Leaders in Finance: Emilia Trudu, CFO Inwit

Our guest opened her speech at the Master in Corporate Finance (MCF) introducing the concept of sliding doors, which was the founding principle of her outstanding career: every work experience, regardless of scope and business sector, was a stepping stone.

She began her journey as a Junior Commercial Controller at Nestle. After a short time, she moved into the position of Business Controller. Such context of a large retail business allowed her to integrate different business and financial functions to achieve several and critical KPIs.

One of such key KPIs achievements was build up a common taxonomy across different company divisions. In budgeting for performance and business co-piloting, her motto was: “Set the goal, set the direction, monitor advancement and enjoy the travel”.

The game-changing moment of her career was after she began acting at Amplifon as a Business Controller, and then moving into the Investor Relations role. She quickly become Director of Investor Relations, and then Group Planning & Control Director. This was the first and most important ‘Sliding Door’, that allowed her to exploit her skills, knowledge and vision to largely build on her knowledge of the markets, effectively delivering on the shareholders’ expectations. The most valuable lesson was how to strengthen the equity story of the company through a sound strategic plan.

In 2016, she moved to Vodafone as a Planning Consumer Fixed Manager. Here she built on her leadership style, her business acumen and realized that company culture and leadership are closing intertwined, shaping each other in a mutual relationship. Therefore, she advised the class: “Select the businesses aligned with your core soul and leadership style.”

The importance of leadership was once again key, when she moved to Gruppo Sole24 Ore. Now, she is the CFO of Inwit, the Italians major communication tower operator, which operates over 23,000 infrastructure assets that provide widespread coverage throughout the country.

Her role is quite multifaceted, and it entails the overseeing and management of various divisions such as Finance, Financial Reporting, Procurement, Planning and Control. This is a truly ‘Super CFO’ role, comprising strategic leadership, financial planning and analysis, cash flow overseeing, capital structuring, cost & performance management, data optimization, ethics and risk assessment, monitoring ESG performance and compliance, and more.

She faces the key challenges of a fast-paced changing world: as uncertainty plays a critical role agility and resilience are a must. Digital transformation and information overflow spur an evolving financial leadership that considers the key synergy between the vision and strategic mission of CEOs and the financial strategy of maximizing returns and create value. Nowadays, only sustainable growth is desirable. Finally, ensuring internal and external transparency allows stakeholders to assess KPIs and evaluate sustainable financial growth.

SDA Bocconi School of Management