BTS: The tangible impact as quantum computing materializes

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It’s been nine months since I covered the state of quantum computing by tapping experts at the SXSW Conference in Austin. Since then, companies like Google and IBM have made advancements in the field, bringing us closer to a world where technology can help us discover drugs faster, see deeper into the human body and continually optimize company operations.

A quick primer on quantum computing: “Unlike classical computing, which processes information through bits that can exist in either zeros or ones, quantum computing is an evolving field where quantum bits (or qubits) can occupy both zero and one in a single unit. These qubits can then basically communicate with each other to further increase the speed and complexity of information processing in a calculation.” — from my own reporting for CNBC

Naturally, quantum computing requires a lot of resources and a lot of talent to materialize. And while the long-awaited technology continues to be researched and fine-tuned, some argue that this is the year the pieces are finally being put into place.

~ Click the ad below for a quick break (or just to help me earn revenue), then read on to learn about the looming implications of quantum computing. ~

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Our jobs

A quick Indeed search shows industry roles at companies like Nvidia, Toyota and Alice & Bob (whose mission is to “build the first universal quantum computer”). Job titles include quantum applications scientist, product marketer, and hardware specialist. Of course, there’s academia research roles, which is becoming more popular for talent after a low period, according to Giancarlo Hirsch, managing director at global tech talent partner Glocomms.

“I think [academia] is coming back to light again, because a lot of firms have been trying to ship product and keep moving the needle forwards, as opposed to really innovating,” says Hirsch.

Jason Sabin, chief technology officer of cybersecurity certificate company Digicert, wrote in a blog that quantum’s tangible developments will present “growing pains” that hardware, software and certificate ecosystems will need to grapple with. With that said, quantum’s increased capabilities will lead to the need for more cybersecurity talent that can handle it.

Our land

As the AI data center conversation continues to heat up, it’s not just standard artificial intelligence that’s vying for land. Quantum computing—and the converged field of quantum AI, which uses supercomputers to function—also requires data and operations centers. This means resources to cool the hot technology, and land to make it all happen. 

“Candidly, talent is not the biggest pain point, even though it's scarce,” says Hirsch. “The biggest pain point is what's even more scarce than talent, which is land…There's so much cost associated with all the red tape that's aligned with this industry.” Hirsch says preliminary project agreements are generally enough to get financial backing from major tech companies (such as ChatGPT’s OpenAI, whose most recent valuation sits at roughly $500 bil 🤯).

If Hirsch can be candid, so can I. Local activists are going to be even tougher on future land agreements now that they’ve been through this with AI data centers (I wrote about my own town’s stake in this fight in a recent edition).

Our outcomes

We’re already seeing commercial viability for a certain type of quantum computing dubbed annealing quantum, which calculates optimized solutions (e.g. route optimization for last-mile delivery) but is technically a different kind of technology. The holy grail, universal gate-based quantum computing, is still in the works. And it could be for some time. But this fully fledged quantum has the potential to quickly calculate what would take standard technology literal lifetimes to complete. One of the biggest obstacles is that qubits are extraordinarily fragile. They need to be hella cold and the materials and environment must be perfect.

So while quantum computing is not, say, here, 2026 shows signs of promise for the field. Let’s just hope we’ve learned some regulatory and governance lessons from AI (TBH, I don’t think we have; see Grok’s latest catastrophe and the fact that the US still hasn’t banned it and ACTUALLY the Pentagon partnered with it in spite of the controversy). Fortunately, quantum will most likely remain out of reach for the general public and be highly use-case specific, limiting the vast curtain of hell.

Thanks,