2026 ZKast #89 - Why Private 5G is the Backbone of Physical AI | Ericsson’s Åsa Tamsons

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:05]Welcome to Zcass everyone. I'm Z Carval from ZK Research and I'm here at NASDAQ's uh offices in Times Square.

[00:00:12]It's Erikson's 150 year anniversary. The bell ringing a little later on. Uh today I'm at OSA uh Thompson's uh head of enterprise wireless at Ericson which is interesting title in itself. Uh Oza, how you doing?

[00:00:25]>> I'm good, thanks.

[00:00:26]>> Excited about the day. bell ring.

[00:00:27]>> I mean, super excited. I must say, um, my second year at Ericson 2019 was the last time we were here. We showed up, we took nice pictures, but we never rang the closing bell. But now turning 150 year old, we actually have the merit to ring the bell.

[00:00:43]>> You haven't been here all 150 years then?

[00:00:45]>> No, not 150.

[00:00:47]>> Yeah. No, but it's an exciting day >> and a lot of people have been way longer uh than me in the company, but it's an amazing company to have the chance to be part of and contribute to and I think quite an exciting purpose also as a company too.

[00:01:00]>> And you've had a couple of different roles in the company. So before we get into some of the topics around enterprise wireless, just talk about your role now and quick little bio on yourself.

[00:01:10]>> I mean I'm running Enterprise Wireless Solutions. Their whole mission is to bring obviously 5G, but I think importantly uh a wireless platform that can actually meet the requirements that enterprises need to run their operations and they can trust and really think about as assured wireless operations. And we bring that today with a portfolio of private and uh private networking capabilities from our routers to our private networks to our security and AI ops capabilities across the stack. Uh so that's where the role I'm having today.

[00:01:47]Critical Ericson as an 150 year old company we always have to reinvent oursself and a big shift we're taking on is of course how do we bring the seller technology into new environments into enterprises and where we can solve some of the important pain points that enterprises are facing today when they're scaling their operations to new environments. So that's kind of big big role um that I had over the last two years. I joined a company nine years ago and was heading up a business there as well that was called enterprise uh sorry emerging technology in an emerging business. So my task was really to look into investments uh to take us closer to enterprise and new segments which led to the investment into cradle point and a few other companies. Uh the other part was to grow a lot of our innovation, our strategy, but also some of our standalone businesses that didn't fit in the rest of the company.

[00:02:42]>> So that's what I've done since I joined and before that I was partner at McKenzie, working for Mackenzie for 12 years uh industry.

[00:02:49]>> That's a it's a big job too. Now Eric's had a big about face over the last few years. They talk a lot more about the enterprise becoming a real growth engine for the company. I think the you know when I look at the world I look at um these market transitions and an interesting one that I saw well from my own research a survey I did with uh Bob Liberty from the cube last year we asked uh um IT leaders how important is the network to business operations two years ago and over 90% said it was more important >> right and with that shift going on uh so it's not just access anymore it's not just the plumbing right are you seeing that concept now resonating more with enterprise customers that they fully now understand how important the network is to business operations. I would say yes we see the shift but importantly we see the need right and this is why we've been betting big time uh on this shift and trend as a company and and I don't think it because companies all of a sudden wakes up and say oh I need better connectivity and more speed and latency I think it's more about if you think about most enterprise operations it's actually it has evolved and I think importantly it has changed is more and more distributed, more and more mobile, more more you actually relying more on data and real-time systems than any before to run your day-to-day operations. If you look at the past, you actually designed your operations for more fixed controlled environments, sometimes isolated. That's not how you run a modern business today. And I think that is really what's driving the shift because you know today if a network stops it's not an IT issue you know if >> if your phone degrades yes it's painful it takes some time to send that image or you can watch you cannot watch Netflix or whatever it is right >> and that's bad that's annoying right >> but this is beyond an annoyance all of a sudden it's actually about disruption it's about a product that cannot be delivered It's about operations, manufacturing that start stops. It's service interruption. Sometimes even it's the difference between life and death. If you're at the hospital or if it's maybe more important so when you're out in the field and you have fire brigades and you start to rely on new systems and real-time information, then that makes a difference. So I think it's a less of a I isolated matter now. how it started increasingly become the difference whether operations in a business runs or not.

[00:05:25]>> Yeah. And so when I when you think about connectivity in a business for a long time wired was obviously the gold standard. We move more and more things to Wi-Fi. I think the benefit that private cellular has is it's more deterministic in nature. It's certainly more reliable >> and it's been very popular in manufacturing warehousing the kind of verticals you think it would be. Um, where are you seeing uh cellular fit more naturally outside of those traditional industries?

[00:05:55]>> I mean, you should start working as part of myself.

[00:06:00]>> No, I I think you know, first of all, I think I call it whether it's fixed or or think more about the legacy network architecture. They're built more for things you can predict, things you can control, right?

[00:06:16]I think where we started to see the first value is really where the cost of an outage is big to your point, right?

[00:06:26]>> Think about mining or an airport or manufacturing, right? And you use a lot of automation, you use a lot of cameras, real time vision capabilities. Those have been environments where we've seen most of the value because all of a sudden you can enable things you couldn't do before. But frankly, what you also do, you increase throughput on things you didn't knew were stuck. Yeah.

[00:06:50]I think one of the best examples I have of that is we implemented one of our private networks with Sig Logistics, a big warehouse in Korea >> and they didn't we asked what is the biggest use case right driving this because we saw the value coming through. They said well they were already very digital right in the way they used the tools and had automated operations. they just realized their throughput went up by 10%. That's a 10% productivity gain.

[00:07:20]>> So you have those very distinct cases where all of a sudden automated bulldozers that stopped all the time are running without interruption. But you also see some where it just flows and that flow means that a business can run and go uh faster. I think the exciting big shift that I'm looking forward to is when we go beyond those big value OT environments and we can actually start to replace the classic network enterprise network as we know it because even in a building like this >> you have a lot of backbone in a lot of cabling big switches I think there's an opportunity over time to replace that with a much lighter wireless first infrastructure that is not the best effort but helps both those predictive predictive and deterministic capabilities as well as can efficiently cover the different spaces with the right economics and I think that will be the important shift beyond the what I call it the OT shift that we're seeing right now.

[00:08:25]>> Yeah. And let's talk about some of the drivers of that too. So, and it's been uh we were talking a few minutes, haven't mentioned AI yet, which is maybe a record. Uh but uh if we roll back the clock to GTC, um one of the things Jensen Huang, their CEO, talked a lot about was edge inferencing. In fact, he declared this the era of inferencing and a lot of that will be done at the edge.

[00:08:47]>> Now, these edge devices aren't your traditional IT devices, hardened servers, OT devices, things like that.

[00:08:54]Um what do they rely on? Reliable. they need reliable connectivity, right? And so talk about how like private cellular private 5G is the really that network bridge between the business and and the value that they're going to get out of edge for. How do you see that as a driver? So you know I love that framing uh and I think it's because you know I already said before that >> if you want to use data real time even before the big AI kind of shift even if you use what we call then advanced analytics >> or digital transformation you wanted to connect assets right and what we saw the limitation of legacy networking was everything that moves and anything that views and especially if it's happening real time with AI that's accelerating that shift. So I think where uh Johnson has a huge point is when you take AI from the software world and you want to integrate to the physical world what he calls the physical AI >> you if you cannot connect the assets if you cannot light up the dark assets I call it dark assets those have not been connected you cannot capture that intelligence you cannot get all intelligence from your operations into your AI models or your AI outcomes and I think when I look at the uh private network. What I think is one of the most powerful capabilities is it's not in the AI model itself. It's actually that you can connect the devices with a model with the right capabilities where you need it. Right? And it's it's two capabilities. One is to be able to connect every type of asset or information you have there regardless if it's advanced or just a simple sensor.

[00:10:34]Right?

[00:10:35]But other one is to make sure that space in between that and the model can always be um accessed. And I I think this is where I already see now that maybe those that are getting the most benefit from private networks among our client base, they're the most advanced on AI and robotics.

[00:10:54]>> Yeah.

[00:10:55]>> Which is very typically where you see the first use case of physical AI playing out.

[00:10:59]>> Yeah. In fact, physical AI edge AI very closely tied together. And I and I think um well at the GTC event they talk about the compute implications that the network implications. So you know if you think about how much money people spend on GPUs um not investing in the right network can really eliminate a lot of the ROI you get from that. And I and I'm I think that's why you hear also Nvidia talking all of a sudden about the network which you didn't hear a lot about a couple of years back that the last two years at GTC he talked more you know proactively about that. I think also what we're seeing is the next wave of AI will actually be the networking capabilities.

[00:11:39]You will need that if you want also connect the last mile and all the way to the edge.

[00:11:43]>> Now you talked about really replacing the entire enterprise network. The WAN is something I think that's been forgotten about when it comes to AI networks, right? Important part, edge certainly part of that, but it's more than that. So, can you talk about the role of the wireless WAN and Ericson solutions there?

[00:12:00]>> You know, I think one of the most uh exciting parts with wireless WAN, it's actually very well used today already, especially in mobile and distributed environments. And I think the beauty of it is is a fairly small investment and you can leverage the public network always built out but you get your own private virtual networking capability where you can connect fleets and it's not only about the connectivity you can set the same policy the same security and importantly because it's one thing we haven't talked about that much but it's also the device ecosystem not all devices are cellular enabled not all are Wi-Fi enabled not all we can actually with those uh edge routers we can actually integrate and embrace all different kinds of devices because when you sit in an ambulance right you don't have the luxury to have all devices all of a sudden refreshed with when and then you need to have the solution and that's where I think there are two parts of wireless one that are so uh you know powerful one it can connect edge regardless of where that edge is and also mobile edge is not only fixed two it can connect the system so you can bring the intelligence across your fleet of cars or branches of stores or what have you, but also you can integrate and I could say be a bit inclusive in the type of operations you can actually cover. And this is exciting, right?

[00:13:21]Because it brings a lightweight again networking infrastructure out to every edge. And we saw the power of that even during COVID where we all of a sudden we could take sensitive patient data in a secure way out to the edge when people were bringing COVID vaccine or COVID tests just as an example. And we're seeing the same technology now with our latest product which actually have edge capabilities in it to some of the leading um ambulances where you can get sensitive patient data and second zero doesn't start in a hospital it start at the same when ambulance come to the patient right so there's so many powerful capabilities and I think at the end of the day I can be very passionate about everything what it does but at the end of the day it's continu uity. It's continuity. It's visibility and you can bring the intelligence of your operations and the assurance of your operations all the way to the edge regardless where it starts and where it ends.

[00:14:19]>> Now, you do a lot of work in uh environments like factories, uh fleets, frontline worker operations.

[00:14:26]>> What are some of the lessons learned that you've had there that you can now take to more traditional IT networks and and the the people that operate those networks?

[00:14:35]I think I mean if I go way back one of the first lessons and you mentioned it before I think there's been quite a hype around 5G and the role it can play for industries >> unfortunately too much hype sometimes >> yeah and I and I think you know reflecting also on our journey I think we're too technology focused and we have since then focused more and one of the reasons why we invested in cradle point was also how do we bring the simplicity of the solution should actually can be used and consumed and managed by an IT team. You don't want to have people who need to be trained telco engineers who run a a macro network to be able to run those things, right? So that I think has been one of the big lessons and that has really changed the game for us over the last uh few years.

[00:15:23]I think the other part is really is yes it's about technology, it's about network but at the end of the day it's about the consequences.

[00:15:32]>> Yeah. Uh I we talked about it today. If an app doesn't download as fast, it's annoying, but it's not life and death.

[00:15:41]>> Whe when you all of a sudden are running, you know, mining operations is it's a lot of money you invest uh to drive mining operations. It's all of a sudden whether you use all the assets.

[00:15:55]Sometimes it's even about safety, right?

[00:15:58]Knowing where people are if there's an incident, right? In manufacturing is about uptime. Sometimes it's even about quality. You know, all of a sudden you can lit up uh a pen shop. I didn't know this before I took this job, but apparently pen shops are not connected typically in a it's a lot of iron, huge spaces in traditional way you do it. You drip down the you dip down the pieces into a huge bath >> or paint, right?

[00:16:26]>> And that's first of all, it's wet.

[00:16:29]>> Yeah. also to kind of put in and out the pieces. It's a lot of iron. You cannot cable things there. You Wi-Fi is too much in inference for that interference for that. So what we learn is actually this is one of the areas where we can start light up data that has not been lit up before.

[00:16:47]>> You could access some of the data before by going with a USB stick afterwards and bring it out. But that's after the car being pitted. If you have a problem, you have to repin it. That's quite costly.

[00:16:57]So I think there's also somewhere it's not only about cost and productivity, it's also about quality and ability to have access and learn and improve. So I think that's um at the end of the day it's about outcomes. Yeah.

[00:17:11]>> And it's about consequences.

[00:17:13]>> In fact on that theme uh more and more the IT leaders I talked to are talking about outcomes. In fact I was at the NRF show earlier this year and one of the IT leaders there said to me he comes to the show not as a tech show but as a business outcome show, right? And so can you share a specific use case? You don't have to name the customer if you don't want to, but where Ericson's enterprise wireless solutions enabled um you know a company to transform itself and the outcomes they saw.

[00:17:40]>> I mean I have a couple of exciting ones.

[00:17:43]One I'm passionate about this mining.

[00:17:46]It's just because it's so obvious. So we've been working this is public. We're working with Newmont globally. uh they used to be able to connect one bulldozer at a time and it had a range of 100 meter maybe 200 an open pit mine typically most of the open pit mines are between 1 and 2 km wide >> so that mean you needed an access point for every >> a lot of access points >> and the problem is not the number of access point I mean it can be a cost issue it's the handovers >> whenever you go for an handover they had a lot of stops interruption then you need to go down >> locate the bulldozer turn it on We were able to replace a number of access points of another technology. We don't have to go into what technology was and we can know one access point covering 15 bulldozers and 1 to 2 km range and no service interruptions. That makes a huge impact right and also an opportunity for them to scale their business more effectively. But we've seen similar things even in things like um one of our customers are running a big tax retailer during the tax season.

[00:18:52]I think we're around that time right now.

[00:18:54]>> Uh you're late if you're doing it now.

[00:18:56]>> Every time the network degrades, the payments goes a bit slower, >> the lines get longer. Since they started working with us, they actually don't have any outage and they have increased their revenues. Not because the customer weren't there, the customer weren't there, but they couldn't pass them on fast enough. Those are very simple stories, but we have a lot of ranges in between, right? And I think this is the exciting thing, whether it's um broadcasting team that can run the operations with better quality, less people on site, which is great for economics. It's great from an environmental standpoint. You don't have to travel everyone all over the world.

[00:19:35]It it's a real here and now impact on performance and operations and the consequences of the business.

[00:19:41]>> All right. And so here's the money question.

[00:19:45]Um first of all do you think we'll get to a point where the 5G network will become the primary network for the company and if so when do you think that moment will come?

[00:19:56]>> I can answer one part of that question.

[00:19:59]So yes, it can be primary and you're already seeing that with some of the more forward leading customers we're having already. We sent some um two of the ones I cannot mention them but they're both leaders in their respective industry. They started deploying this in their factories saw the power of it brought it to their R&D labs brought it to their distributed sites to their warehouses to their customer facing sites. Next they're now asking can we bring this into our offices because even our employees start to see the value of the experience even if so we started get that conversation already now from it's not it's not 10% of our customer base yet but we start to see the front runners and the leaders and just like you know Nvidia can be front running in their space there are many frontr runners who are very advanced in their respective space and I Think the exciting thing when they saying this is where we're going to go. I'm sure the rest will come. And I think the the reason why the rest will come is we already see with AI those that will be first and most successfully adopt AI in running and transform their business.

[00:21:11]They will probably benefit versus competition. You will need to connect your assets. You need to will need your new network capabilities to be able to scale that. those that that do that sooner they will win and they will have a head start. So I think it's more about how quickly will that happen how quickly will the rest of the >> kind of industry move on except you know outside of the front runners it can be five it can be 10 years it can be 15 years but I see the value and that's why I think it will happen. All right, Elsa.

[00:21:43]So, we've got physical AI coming. We got edge inferencing. We've got uh uh just more connected devices. And uh it seems like all those drivers point to more reliable deterministic connectivity, which is what private cellular delivers.

[00:21:59]Anything else you want to add?

[00:22:01]Well, I think it's all while I still so excited about what all our networks and what our products can do, I think it's so important to just remember so what are the outcomes we drive for the enterprises. That's why that's why we're seeing this shift. uh and I think our capability is more of an enabling technology enabling technology for really scaling automation, scaling operations, scaling AI and hence hence the value, right?

[00:22:30]>> Yeah. Well, networking has been asking for a seat at the table for a long time and uh I I think that uh in this AI era, it's finally come around. It's more and more the world's be more dynamic, more distributed. It's the network that connects us all together and it it's really the thing now that delivers those outcomes. Let's wrap up there. That's a good place. So, and we can get over to the 15.

[00:22:51]>> Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much.

[00:22:53]>> Yeah. So, on behalf of Osa Thompson's, I'm Zas Caraval from ZK Research saying thanks for watching. Give us a like and also hit that subscribe button and we'll see you next time on our next episode of Zcast. Thanks, Osa.