Nokia Puts AI Agents in Charge of 600 Million Connections—and a New Boss Over Mobile

Nokia targets 50% first-contact helpdesk resolution and halved technician revisits via AI, as AI/cloud revenue jumps 49% and stock surges 135% YTD.

Nokia is betting that artificial intelligence can do more than juice its share price. The Finnish telecom gear maker plans to embed autonomous software agents across more than 600 million fixed broadband lines while simultaneously installing a new leader to accelerate the transformation in its most problematic division. The two moves—one technological, one managerial—are tightly linked. Both aim to shift Nokia's centre of gravity away from legacy hardware and toward software-driven, AI-native networks.

The autonomous AI agents, which Nokia calls "Agentic AI", are being integrated into the Altiplano, Corteca and Broadband Easy platforms. These agents can independently diagnose network faults, perform root-cause analyses and trigger operational workflows without human intervention. The company has set concrete efficiency targets: more than 50% of helpdesk queries should be resolved on first contact, and technician revisits should be halved. The scale is enormous—the system draws on data from over 600 million broadband lines installed worldwide. For telecom operators, the promise is that they can expand fibre networks without letting operating costs rise in lockstep.

That software push is already reshaping Nokia's financial trajectory. In the first quarter, revenue from AI and cloud customers jumped 49% year-on-year, and new orders in that segment reached roughly €1 billion. The company has nearly doubled its growth forecast for the AI and cloud networking business, now targeting a compound annual rate of 27% through 2028, up from the previous 16% estimate. The global telecom AI market is projected to hit $6.2 billion by 2030, and Nokia is positioning itself to capture a meaningful slice.

The market has responded with a re-rating that has lifted Nokia's shares to levels not seen in roughly 16 years. On the latest trading day, the stock stood at €13.09, up 3.85%, bringing its year-to-date gain to 135%. That surge has drawn a wave of analyst upgrades. JPMorgan more than doubled its price target to €12 from €6.90 while maintaining an Overweight rating, and Morgan Stanley lifted its own target to €11 from €8.50, also Overweight. Argus upgraded the stock to Buy with a $15 target. The shares have already traded near these levels, reaching a 52-week high of €12.60—about 50% above the 50-day moving average. Some analysts argue the re-rating toward AI-focused peers such as Arista Networks still has room to run.

Yet the operational reality inside Nokia's most difficult business remains uneven. The Mobile Infrastructure unit—which combines radio access networks, core software and patents—saw currency-adjusted revenue rise just 3% in the first quarter, with the radio business showing little momentum. Telecom operators, having largely completed their initial 5G build-outs, are holding back on fresh investment. The next major upgrade cycle, driven by 6G, is still years away. Against that backdrop, Nokia has appointed Emma Falck to lead the revamped division starting 1 September 2026.

Falck joins from Siemens, where she served as Executive Vice President for products in the Smart Infrastructure Buildings unit, overseeing product management, development and supply chains. Her background includes strategy and technology roles at KONE and Boston Consulting Group, plus a PhD in Computational Physics from Aalto University—a credential that aligns neatly with CEO Justin Hotard's vision of "Physical AI", where intelligent systems manage real-world infrastructure and machinery. "Networks must be thought of as AI-native from the start," Hotard said. The previous head of mobile networks, Tommi Uitto, left the post; Hotard had been running the unit on an interim basis.

Falck takes over a business that Nokia has already reorganised around the AI opportunity. The new Mobile Infrastructure unit was created after Nokia brought in Nvidia as a strategic investor in October. The division bundles core networks, radio access and patents into a single structure designed to foster software-driven growth. Falck's mandate is to improve execution and embed AI more deeply into development and delivery. Nokia has set a target of achieving comparable operating profit of between €2.7 billion and €3.2 billion by 2028. The share price has already priced in a great deal of optimism; Falck's job is to turn that confidence into measurable margins.

Looking ahead, Nokia's roadmap includes "AI-native" architectures for 5G Advanced and the future 6G standard, as well as the ongoing integration of optical networking specialist Infinera, which it acquired to strengthen the data-center interconnection business—a segment that is becoming critical for AI workloads. The next quarterly results will provide the first reality check on whether the margin improvements implied by the current valuation are materialising at the pace the market expects.