With 5G, IoT on Horizon, Ericsson Looks for New CEO

Ericsson’s CEO is stepping down, and and the search for a new CEO is on.

The changes were recently decided by the company’s Board of Directors, which determined that the time has come for Hans Vestberg to step down from his positions as the company’s President, CEO, and board member. An interim CEO, Jan Frykhammar, takes the helm as the company looks for its next leader.

In a statement announcing the changes, Vestberg called his 28 years with the company “fantastic”, and explained that “[a]s the industry enters a next phase, driven by 5G, IoT and Cloud, it is time for a new CEO to step in and continue the work to ensure Ericsson’s industry leadership.”

The company has already been highly active on these emerging fronts. Together with China Mobile and Intel, it developed a smart cities concept at MWC Shanghai demonstrating how IoT connectivity can enable sophisticated environmental monitoring; and more recently Ericsson developed a cloud-based facial recognition system on a 5G network as a demo of 5G technology. Ericsson has also been busy in the field of digital money, having recently touted the success of its mobile wallet platform in Uganda.

With so many initiatives in a range of emerging technological frontiers, Ericsson will need to find a highly ambitious new CEO to fill Vestberg’s shoes.