Santosh Sigdel is a seasoned Chief Financial Officer and currently serves as Group Head of Finance at ESSA Group, an IDX-listed energy conglomerate in Indonesia. With over 17 years of international experience across Southeast Asia and India, he brings deep expertise in energy commodities, oil & gas, petrochemicals, and industrial manufacturing. A Chartered Accountant (ICAI) and CPA Australia, Santosh has led complex financial transformations, capital raising initiatives, and strategic investments, including low-carbon projects. He is known for combining strong technical rigor in IFRS, multi-entity consolidation, and governance with board-level strategic advisory.
Santosh has been at the forefront of driving AI and automation in finance, leading end-to end digital transformation initiatives leveraging SAP, RPA, and AI technologies—resulting in significant efficiency gains and improved financial accuracy. His work spans intelligent finance operations, data-driven decision-making, and scalable finance architectures. At this forum, he brings practical insights on how finance leaders can harness AI to enhance productivity, strengthen controls, and enable forward-looking finance functions, while balancing compliance, governance, and value creation in rapidly evolving business environments.