Today, Swedish telecoms equipment giant Ericsson has announced that CEO Börje Ekholm will resign. He will be replaced by Per Narvinger, an Ericsson veteran that has served as the company’s head of business area networks since March 2025.
Ekholm will step down from the role of President and CEO on September 30, 2026, and will leave the Board of Directors from October. He will serve as an executive advisor to the new CEO until June 2027.
Ekholm has served as Ericsson CEO for over nine years, taking over the reins at a time when the company “faced considerable headwinds” both from fierce external competition and internal restructuring.
“Since then we have turned Ericsson around and emerged as a global communications and technology leader,” he said. “Today, Ericsson is driving the transformation of mobile connectivity by changing how networks are used and commercialized, and we are leading the industry into the next stage of AI: the physical AI era.”
“With Per Narvinger as CEO, Ericsson will have the right leader to continue developing this great company,” he added.
Narvinger has worked for Ericsson his entire professional life. Currently Ericsson’s head of business area networks since March 2025, he has held a wide range of additional roles, notably leading the cloud software and services division.
“It is a great honour to step into this role in a company where I have spent my entire professional career. It has been a pleasure working with Börje in our joint efforts to create a stronger Ericsson,” said Per Narvinger. “This is a pivotal time in our industry. As AI continues to industrialize, this will increasingly require advanced connectivity solutions, an area where Ericsson is leading. With our extraordinary employees who are cementing technology leadership as a foundation for success, we will continue to provide great value to our customers. I look forward to taking up the role as President and CEO of this amazing company.”
Narvinger takes over the role at what the company’s Board call a “pivotal time”, with the company repositioning itself to capitalise on the emerging ‘physical AI era’.
Ekholm’s approach to this challenge had involved digging deeper into network APIs and pushing into enterprise software, aiming to make the network more flexible and developer friendly. Ultimately, this resulted in the disastrously expensive purchase of Vonage and has so far delivered lacklustre growth in the enterprise segment.
Despite this, given Narvinger’s background it seems unlikely that he will attempt to change the company’s direction dramatically. He has long championed the company’s extensive R&D efforts – including the company’s cloud offerings and purpose-built 5G silicon, which could become vital to meeting the real-time demands of the “physical AI” era.
While Narvinger’s appointment signals continuity rather than a strategic reset, his deep technical pedigree and long-standing focus on network innovation will now be tested as Ericsson seeks to turn its AI ambitions into sustainable growth.
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