Karuni Naidoo graduated in 1988 from the University of Natal (now UKZN). In 1992 she registered with the South African Council for Architects (SACA) and became a member of the Institute of South African Architects (now SAIA). She co-founded CNN Architects in 1995, a practice that she now leads as sole Principal. Between 1995 and 2001 she lectured in Architecture at the ML Sultan Technikon (now DUT).

Karuni was instrumental in initiating the Women in Architecture initiative in South Africa, and continues to drive this within the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA), where she chairs the Transformation Committee, working with a structure of Regional Transformation Champions from the SAIA regions. Her current work within the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) involves chairing the Transformation Collaborative Committee which is focussed on Women Empowerment & Gender Equality. She also leaves her work at the Transformation Committee of the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP).

Through advocacy, she continues to highlight the under-representation of black women in a traditionally white male-dominated architectural profession in South Africa and continues to lobby for empowerment and work opportunities for black persons and women.