The Retailers Association of India (RAI) successfully hosted the ‘Retail CFO Summit 2025’ at JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar on August 24, 2025. This distinguished event brought together CFOs, CEOs, and finance leaders from across the retail sector. The summit focused on the timely theme: Beyond the Balance Sheet – The Evolving Role of the Retail CFO.
As the retail sector undergoes continuous transformation, the CFO’s role is becoming more vital than ever, emphasizing digital innovation, economic resilience, and sustainable growth. The Retail CFO Summit 2025 unites finance leaders, innovators, and strategists who are shaping the financial future of retail. In today’s landscape, CFOs extend beyond traditional financial management to become strategic advisors, digital pioneers, and influential voices in the boardroom.
This year’s summit highlights how CFOs are guiding retail companies through AI-powered change, evolving regulations, and long-term growth, while unlocking new value at every level of the organization. Throughout the day, engaging panel discussions addressed key topics aligned with the summit’s core theme. The sessions included in-depth discussions on topics such as Navigating Uncertainty, Building Resilient Retail Futures, How CFOs can unlock strategic value by embedding AIoT insights across the retail operations, Rewiring Finance for the Future – Retail CFOs on AI and Digital Transformation, and Digitizing Compliance: Retail Learnings from the GSTN Evolution.
The event underscored the importance of forward-thinking financial leadership in driving exponential growth and preparing the retail sector for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI – Retail CFO Summit
Speaking about the Retail CFO Summit 2025, Kumar Rajagopalan – Chief Executive Officer, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said, “Today, the role of the retail CFO is about shaping strategy, driving resilience, and unlocking growth. At the CFO Summit, we spotlight how financial leaders are embedding AI, digital transformation, and data-led insights into operations, while also navigating the evolving GST and compliance landscape. This is where best practices meet future-focused thinking, enabling CFOs to become architects of retail’s sustainable growth story.”
The summit featured a stellar lineup of speakers, including Anuja Rastogi, CFO of Marks & Spencer; Karunakaran M, CFO of Shoppers Stop Ltd.; Kaushal Parekh, CFO of Metro Brands Ltd.; Murali Iyer, CFO of IKEA India; Pramod Dangaich, CFO of Infiniti Retail Ltd.; Rajesh Annamalai, CFO (Ethnic Business) of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.; and Sameer Patel, CFO of Metropolis Healthcare Ltd., along with other industry leaders.
Speaking about the retail industry outlook at the summit, Murali Iyer, CFO, IKEA India, expressed, “The future of retail finance lies in resilience — building systems that can absorb shocks, harness technology, and still keep people and purpose at the centre of the business. That’s how we unlock value beyond the balance sheet. As the industry grows more complex, CFOs will increasingly become architects of transformation, not just custodians of numbers.”
Siddarth Asrani – Director Finance, PUMA Sports India Pvt Ltd, added, “Retail finance today is about balancing agility with foresight. With consumer demand shifting rapidly and technology reshaping cost structures, CFOs must act as both guardians of stability and catalysts of innovation. The ability to forecast beyond traditional metrics while adapting to real-time disruptions is what will set future-ready businesses apart.”
RAI’s Retail CFO Summit has established itself as a pivotal annual event for the retail finance community, providing a platform to explore opportunities, discuss industry reforms, and share best practices on achieving rapid yet sustainable growth.
