Graduating from Üsküdar American Academy in 1985 and from Uludağ University’s Business Administration Department in 1989, Ataünal began his career at İktisat Bank. She held various positions at Körfezbank, from Branch Management to Head of Customer Relationship Management. In 2000, she joined the Akkök Group as the Budget and Finance Manager at Akenerji.

Serving as CFO at Akkök Holding from 2005 to 2022, Ataünal was appointed as an Executive Board Member responsible for Finance in 2012 and became a Board Member of Akkök Holding Inc. in 2017. Over the years, taking on various responsibilities, Ataünal currently serves as a Board Member and President of the Energy Group at Akkök Holding Inc. In addition to these roles, she holds the position of Chairman of the Board at AKCEZ, Akenerji, Sepaş Enerji, and Aktek IT, and serves on the boards of other group companies. Ataünal has been a member of TÜSİAD since 2013.