Beating the Clock: Ericsson’s high-stakes approach to AI upskilling

For decades, the global technology narrative followed a predictable, comfortable script: India was the world’s back office, a reliable exporter of elite engineering minds who built other nations’ futures. But walk into Ericsson’s R&D hubs today, and you will see that script being torn to pieces.

With a formidable workforce of over 20,000 employees, India has quietly risen to become Ericsson’s largest operational powerhouse on the planet. This has transformed from being a localised delivery centre to a global engine room driving early 6G blueprints, autonomous networking, and cognitive cloud systems ahead of the rest of the world.

Yet, beneath this massive scale lies an uncomfortable reality that every modern enterprise faces: the shelf-life of human capability is shrinking at a terrifying pace.

In an exclusive, candid conversation with People Matters, Priyanka Anand, VP & Head of HR for Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India at Ericsson, pulled back the curtain on how the telecom giant is navigating this shift. She revealed how traditional corporate metrics are discarded, upskilling is treated as a matter of basic existential survival, and stagnation is met with absolute zero tolerance.

In typical corporate settings, proposals for cutting-edge technology training are dragged through endless boardroom debates. Chief Financial Officers demand meticulous calculations on the return on investment (ROI). They want to know exactly how much profit a training module will yield next quarter.

Ericsson has chosen a completely different path. The company has looked beyond traditional accounting metrics to confront a much more disruptive truth.

"We are least worried about the investment we make in AI and the ROI," Anand reveals. "We are more worried about not having AI-skilled people with us just 12 months down the line—because that will clearly become a big problem for the organisation."

This shift in perspective has fundamentally altered how human capital is valued. At Ericsson, tech literacy is no longer framed as an optional professional development perk or a casual box to tick on a weekend course. It has been transformed into a core, non-negotiable job requirement.

The company's leadership has established a clear, company-wide mandate: failing to adapt to these shifting technological demands is simply not an option.

Every employee, regardless of their department, has a specific target to demonstrate how they integrate artificial intelligence into their daily workflows. Employees are not merely asked to use existing systems; they are expected to build, experiment with, and showcase their own specialised AI agents.

This transformation extends far beyond engineering teams. Within the HR department itself, teams are actively building internal AI modules and holding fortnightly sessions to evaluate their practical impact. By turning technology into a shared, universal language, the company is ensuring that no part of the organisation is left behind.

How do you transition a massive, deeply entrenched workforce into an entirely new technological era without triggering widespread panic? When employees look at external headlines, they are bombarded with warnings of automation-driven layoffs and structural displacement. That background noise creates genuine friction.

Anand addresses this head-on. She argues that ignoring these anxieties is a profound mistake. Instead, the solution lies in building an environment of deep psychological safety combined with an accessible, robust learning infrastructure.

To turn this philosophy into practice, Ericsson built what it calls the AI Playground.

This is a secure, internal digital sandpit where any employee, whether they work in front-line sales, legal, or core R&D, can log in and experiment with advanced AI applications. It removes the fear of failure entirely. In the playground, there are no client-facing risks, no system crashes, and no negative performance reviews. It is a space designed purely for curiosity, trial, and error.

Rather than pushing top-down, mandatory training blocks that employees resent, Ericsson has focused heavily on self-directed learning. The strategy is working: an incredible 99% of the workforce actively logs on to the platform, navigating tiered certification badges that formally validate their growing technical expertise.

By combining an accessible learning environment with open communication channels, the company helps employees view automation as a partner rather than a rival. The internal message is consistent: AI is not here to replace human professionals; it is here to automate repetitive, low-value tasks so that people can focus their energy on true innovation.

As automation rapidly absorbs the low-level, administrative tasks that used to define entry-level positions, a fascinating structural problem emerges: If artificial intelligence handles all the basic grunt work, how does the next generation of talent actually learn the fundamentals of their trade?

It is a question that hits close to home for Anand, who is currently completing her PhD on the specific drivers behind Gen Z engagement and loyalty.

"People of our generation often believe that the next Gen is becoming a bit privileged or entitled because they get everything done for them, which we learned the hard way," she notes with a smile. "But the 'hard way' for them and us is a very different context."

The traditional corporate rite of passage—spending years mastering basic data entries, routine code checks, and repetitive administration—is quickly disappearing. Modern entry-career professionals start their journeys with immediate access to powerful tools that can handle those tasks in seconds.

Anand argues that this shift should be celebrated rather than resisted. For decades, industries across the region excelled at flawless execution but struggled to build a deeply ingrained culture of foundational innovation. By offloading tactical, transactional burdens to automated systems, early-career professionals can bypass the routine work and focus on strategic thinking much earlier in their careers.

To make this model work, Ericsson focuses heavily on building cross-generational bridges. While digital natives bring natural technical fluency and an intuitive grasp of digital workflows, seasoned professionals provide the deep context, institutional memory, and strategic perspective that an algorithm cannot replicate.

When these cohorts collaborate closely, the entire organisation benefits. To strengthen this pipeline before talent even enters the commercial market, Ericsson partners directly with universities and the Department of Telecommunications, which has launched over 100 dedicated 5G labs and aims to train nearly 10,000 students every year through its specialised educational initiatives.

This systemic transformation has fundamentally altered the role of the modern Chief Human Resources Officer. The traditional perception of HR as an administrative, back-end department focused purely on policy enforcement and payroll processes is entirely obsolete.

Anand identifies three core pillars that define the modern, strategically aligned talent executive:

With India positioned alongside the US and Japan as one of Ericsson's top three critical investment markets globally, the stakes could not be higher. The company's approach proves that surviving structural technological disruption requires looking beyond immediate quarterly returns and focusing on long-term capability.

Ultimately, the future belongs to organisations that can transform technological anxiety into a shared commitment to growth. By treating continuous upskilling as a foundational reality of professional life, the goal is clear: ensuring the workforce remains well-positioned to lead the next wave of global digital transformation.