Conti started his career at Mobil Oil, where in 1989 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Mobil Oil Europe in London. In 1991, he headed Administration Finance and Control for Europe at the American company Campbell.
One year later Conti came back to Italy as Chief Financial Officer at Montecatini, and in 1993, he joined the parent company Montedison-Compart. In 1996, he was appointed General Director and Chief Financial Officer at Ferrovie dello Stato, the Italian Railways company.
In 1998, he joined Telecom Italia as General Director and Board Member of TIM and other major companies of the group. He also held the position of Chief Financial Officer.
In 2007, he was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa degree in Electrical Engineering from Genoa University.[citation needed]
He is a lecturer of Corporate Finance at the MBA, School of Economics of the LUISS University, Rome.
He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the UK financial services Group Barclays plc, the US insurance Group AON and of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia. He is Chairman of Eurelectric and Deputy Chairman of Endesa.
Conti was the CEO and General Director of Enel from May 2005[2] until May 2014.[3]