Karen Lai is the Director of Business Control for Global Operations at ASM, where she leads management reporting, financial analysis, and financial planning for the Global Operations function. She is also an active member of ASM’s Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), which is dedicated to advancing and retaining female talent, fostering an inclusive community, and empowering allies across all genders.
Karen brings extensive finance and accounting experience from Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries in Singapore. Her career spans roles at Deloitte & Touche, Siemens, General Electric, Nike, Electrolux, Walt Disney, and Hoya. She has built broad expertise across inventory and costing, general accounting, controllership, financial planning and analysis, and commercial finance, and has progressively taken on larger regional P&L responsibilities.
In her previous role as CFO for Asia Pacific at Hoya Vision Care, Karen partnered closely with the regional President and cross-functional leaders to drive strategic initiatives, support business transformation, and deliver both short- and long-term growth objectives.
Karen has hands-on experience in setting up finance operations, leading process improvement initiatives, and driving finance transformation and change management. She thrives in fast-paced, dynamic, and multicultural environments and enjoys tackling complex challenges.
Karen holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Oregon. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation and is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt.