“Ericsson’s focus on practical and pragmatic evolution of current networks and management systems puts the vendor in a strong position for delivering AI success to operators.” – Francis Haysom

Ericsson’s Q2 2026 analyst briefingcovered AI in the RAN, the extension of the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform from radio into the core, and the evolution of OSS/BSS towards autonomous operations. Ericsson used the session to argue that AI in telecom must be native, specialised, and run on the infrastructure operators already own.

We assess how far that argument holds. We look at Ericsson’s “carrier grade AI” positioning, its move from rules-based automation towards intent-driven autonomy, and its notably contrarian stance on industry hype around autonomous networks and agentic AI. We also give our view of where the messaging lands, where it still needs translating into real operator business problems, and which parts of the vision remain early-stage.

For CSP strategy teams, OSS/BSS practitioners and investors tracking the AI-RAN and autonomy debate, the note offers a snapshot on the direction of travel of the pre-eminent Western mobile supplier — and a benchmark against which to judge competing vendor claims.