Ekholm to Leave Ericsson CEO Position in September

Ericsson announced that the company's CEO, Borje Ekholm, will step down at the end of September. The current networks chief, Per Narvinger, will take the leading position.

Ekholm, who has been at the helm of the Swedish vendor since the start of 2017, will act as an executive adviser at the company when he relinquishes his position, until 15 June 2027. Incoming boss Narvinger is currently head of business area networks at the vendor, a position he has held since March 2025. Before taking the networks brief, he headed up its cloud software and services division. He has been at the company his entire career, which started in 1997.

Ericsson chairman Jan Carlson said that Narvinger brought deep technical knowledge of our industry as well as extensive commercial experience and has proved himself in several key leadership positions. Carlson added that the outgoing chief’s tenure of almost a decade was defined by extraordinary leadership and strategic advancements, asserting the company had solidified its position as a leading provider of trusted communications networks. He credited Ekholm with challenging traditional thinking and positioning the company for long-term success.

Ekholm joined Ericsson in 2017 during what he described at the time as a period of “intense change” with the vendor midway through a significant restructure. Reflecting on his time in charge in a statement, the executive said that he and his team have turned Ericsson around and that the company emerged as a global communications and technology leader since he arrived. “Today, Ericsson is driving the transformation of mobile connectivity by changing how networks are used and commercialised, and we are leading the industry into the next stage of AI: the physical AI era. It is our ability to innovate, to adapt and to compete globally that continues to define us.”

He backed Narvinger as the right leader to continue developing this great company. The incoming chief described the appointment as a great honour, adding he was taking over at a pivotal time in our industry. “As AI continues to industrialise, this will increasingly require advanced connectivity solutions, an area where Ericsson is leading,” Narvinger said.