CEOs who aren't yet preparing for the quantum revolution are 'already too late,' IBM exec says
Quantum computing will change the tech landscape as much as artificial intelligence has. Execs from IBM, Microsoft, IonQ, PsiQuantum, and D-Wave told BI that corporate leaders should be preparing now.
Quantum computing will change the tech landscape as much as artificial intelligence has. Execs from IBM, Microsoft, IonQ, PsiQuantum, and D-Wave told BI that corporate leaders should be preparing now. D-Wave
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.
You'd be hard pressed to find a company out there that's not using some form of AI at this point. In just a few years, tech leaders say the same will be true of quantum computing.
"It's equivalent to the exact thing that you're seeing with classical computing and AI, but it's going to happen at a much larger scale," Jay Gambetta, the vice president in charge of IBM's quantum initiative, told Business Insider.
Researchers are optimistic about coming breakthroughs in quantum computing, a field that leverages quantum physics and mechanics to solve complex problems faster than is possible using classical computers.
Related video
When the final engineering problems are solved and the technology scales up, quantum tech promises to revolutionize medicine, data privacy, and more .
Industry insiders say it's just a matter of time before quantum computing changes the tech landscape as much as artificial intelligence has, so corporate leaders had better start getting ready.
"If you're not paying attention and you're not dedicating people to quantum computing, I think it's probably already too late," Gambetta said.
'Future-proof' computing is hybrid
AI and quantum computing are not interchangeable tools — each has its own very different strengths. Artificial intelligence is especially good at searching through existing data to make predictions about future outcomes, and is helpful in areas like image recognition, e-commerce recommendation engines, and fraud detection.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
A utility-scale quantum computer doesn't predict using data from the past, Stratton Sclavos, PsiQuantum's Chief Business Officer, told Business Insider. Instead, it calculates the exact answer from first principles, from scratch, "to solve problems that no conventional computer or AI will ever be able to solve."
"If you're currently using or ramping up your use of AI, keep going," Sclavos said. But, he said, corporate leaders should be "preparing now for how quantum computing will transform how your business operates."
Aseem Datar, Microsoft's vice president of product innovation, strategic missions, and technologies, told Business Insider that, given the rapid pace of innovation, "it's critical that organizations start exploring, identifying, and building an application road map that sets them up for success in a quantum future."
For instance, Microsoft recently released Discovery, an agentic AI platform for scientific research and development built on top of its Azure cloud computing program. Datar said the technology was designed to be as "future-proof" as possible so that when quantum technology advances, it will be readily incorporated into the existing technology, and users "will get the benefits of quantum underneath the platform."
While Microsoft Discovery is geared toward the scientific community, Datar said future-looking tech solutions across industries will share similar characteristics. Hybrid computing integration, which combines the strengths of classical computing power with those of quantum systems, is particularly important, he said, so corporate leaders don't have to rip and replace their systems once quantum technology reaches its potential.
Murray Thom, D-Wave's vice president of quantum technology evangelism, agreed, telling Business Insider: "Hybrid quantum-classical solutions are what's going to give them the resiliency that they're looking for in their businesses."
Thom added that organizations need to be aware of and ready for the speed of change that the tech landscape will undergo as quantum technology scales up, "so that they can take advantage of the technology and not be at a competitive disadvantage if they miss what the newest capabilities are."
"When you're evaluating a new technology, you have to keep in mind that there's the information you have about what's possible today, and then there's what I call a cone of uncertainty that projects into the future," Thom said. "You're looking to gain information that allows you to narrow that cone of uncertainty so that you can make better business decisions about what to do today to take advantage of that in the future — and particularly in a way that gives you robustness to those future outcomes."
'The toothpaste is not going back in the tube.'
It's not just private industry that's getting ready for the quantum revolution. Tim Kelly, the mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee, told Business Insider he's investing heavily in his city's ability to lean into a quantum future, with hopes it can become a hot spot for development of the technology.
"We intend to try to make the most of it from an economic development perspective," Kelly said. "I think we're right at the leading edge of this, and the toothpaste is not going back in the tube, and so even though it's very early innings yet, this will change the world in a very fundamental way."
Other cities, including Chicago, Boston, and Boulder, Colorado, are also investing in quantum research and industrial hubs to ensure they can capitalize on the economic growth the burgeoning industry is expected to usher in.
As the quantum snowball keeps rolling downhill for both the public and private sectors, Niccolo de Masi, CEO of IonQ, told Business Insider that early adopters will gain a massive advantage if they start now to identify the best use cases for their industries, developing and optimizing hybrid algorithms ahead of time so they're ready when the first utility-scale quantum computers turn on.
Those that don't start now, he said, risk becoming obsolete.
"This might sound extreme, but as the joke always goes, CEOs have made plenty of decisions over the past 10,000 years that they've gotten fired for — for making the wrong decision," de Masi said. "I think CEOs are going to get fired if they're not up on the quantum revolution in a lot of industries, because they're just going to be so far behind."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
an hour ago
- Fast Company
5 must-use Microsoft Edge browser features to save time and money
You'd be forgiven for forgetting that there was a time when Microsoft Edge was basically the web browser that opened when you accidentally clicked a link that didn't default to opening in Chrome or Firefox. But something shifted in 2020 when Microsoft switched Edge's digital drivetrain to Chromium, the technology that powers the Google Chrome browser and others like it. Edge suddenly shed its awkward skin and emerged as a genuinely competent—nay, pleasant—browsing experience. And if you use Edge during your workday, there are some wonderfully useful time-savers built right into its core. Here are the ones I find most excellent. Split Screen: 2 for the price of one Want to browse to your heart's content while keeping an eye on your email? Try a neat little Edge feature called 'Split Screen.' Click on the three little dots in the upper-right corner and select this menu option, and the browser will split into two panes and you can open different sites. It even handles multiple tabs for each pane as well. It's perfect for always-on email, social media, or anything you need to keep a constant watch over without disrupting your main workflow. It's like having a mini-browser within your browser and is especially helpful if you're working off a laptop without multiple monitors to plug into. Collections: Your digital idea board If you often find yourself researching something, opening a few dozen tabs, and then realizing you'll need to revisit all of them later . . . then you and I are kindred, unorganized spirits. Yes, bookmarks exist, but they're meant to be reasonably permanent and they're a bit clunky for quick idea gathering. 'Collections,' on the other hand, act like digital project managers for you to reference later. Click the three-dot menu and choose Collections to get started. You can drag and drop links, images, even snippets of text into a themed collection. Planning a trip? Researching a new gadget? Building a shopping list? Collections keep it all tidy and easily accessible. Imagine: actual organization! Performance Settings: Nobody likes a laggy browser Even the best browser can bog down the beefiest system when you have a gazillion tabs open and a dozen extensions running, and you're streaming 4K resolution video. Edge's 'Performance' settings section is a quiet hero. It aims to save CPU, RAM, and battery by saving system resources, including a handy feature that puts inactive tabs to sleep. It doesn't close them, but rather simply pauses them, freeing up resources for stuff you're actively working on. You can enable and tweak various efficiency features in Settings > System and Performance. Your CPU fan will thank you. Web Capture: Screenshots made simple If ever you're feeling down about the state of the world, just know that it's never been a better, easier era to grab screenshots. So there's that. What once involved a delicate dance of Print Screen, pasting into Paint, cropping, and then realizing you missed a pixel is now as easy as right-clicking in the open space of a web page, selecting 'Screenshot,' and grabbing what you need. You can grab a specific area, the full page, or exactly what you see in the browser. You can annotate directly on the capture, too. Shopping Features: Save some bucks, save some time I'm not usually one for built-in shopping assistants, but Edge's are surprisingly unobtrusive and genuinely helpful. If you're on a site that sells stuff, look for a blue price tag icon to appear on the right-hand side of the address bar. Click it, and the feature can automatically find coupons, compare prices, show you historical price trends, and let you track the item and get alerted if it goes on sale. It's like having a miniature, nonjudgmental personal shopper living in your browser.
Business Insider
11 hours ago
- Business Insider
I was laid off from Microsoft after 23 years, and I'm still going into the office. I feel responsible for my team and customers.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Freddy Kristiansen, a 59-year-old former Principal Product Manager at Microsoft's Denmark office who was laid off in May 2025. Business Insider has verified Kristiansen's employment. The following has been edited for length and clarity. A couple of weeks ago, after 23 years at Microsoft, I was laid off. Yet here I am, back in the office. It might sound strange to show up at the office after being let go, but I still feel committed to the products, the people using them, and my colleagues. I was laid off in May, and per Danish law as an employee of over nine years, I have a six-month notice period. I've been relieved of my duties, but I am still officially an employee until the end of November. I'm also entitled to three months of severance pay after my notice. I didn't plan to stay at Microsoft for two decades I was originally hired by Navision in 2002. I saw it as a job I'd stay in for a year or two, but shortly after I joined, Microsoft acquired Navision. From then on, I was a Microsoft employee. That's when I thought, "Maybe this could actually be something long-term." Indeed, it ended up being my professional home for the next 23 years. Over the years, I have held a variety of roles, from group program management to technical evangelist. Although I never had an official developer title, I have been developing products throughout. My last major project was AL-Go for GitHub — a tool that helps our partners use DevOps, a software development approach, in their daily work without needing to understand the complex technical details. I didn't expect to feel relieved when I got laid off I've found the work fulfilling, but around five years ago, I started dreaming of my own business. During the last round of Microsoft layoffs in 2023, I submitted an anonymous question during an all-hands asking if they would consider voluntary redundancies. If the option came up in the future, I might volunteer. It never did. One morning in May this year, I got an invite to a one-on-one meeting with my manager. I said to my wife, "This is it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be laid off." I thought I might feel upset, but, in reality, it was kind of a relief. Some of my colleagues were devastated. They are worried about what the future might hold. But I'm nearing 60. For the past decade, I've worked very hard and put in long hours. However, I'm at the stage of life where I'm no longer interested in working 60-hour weeks. It felt like the right time to finally pursue my long-overdue dream of doing work on my own terms. During that layoff call with my manager and HR, I wasn't sad; I was already thinking about what I wanted to do next. I believe this new chapter will be good for me. I'll be able to take more time for myself, and hopefully I'll be less stressed as I can set my own hours. Starting a business is my silver lining My focus is now on figuring out a business plan that will allow me to deliver the most value to partners and customers in the least amount of time. I plan to offer CTO services, project management, and maybe even some motivational speaking, while squeezing in travel and getting back into a regular exercise routine. Since the layoffs, I've been reminding myself that every cloud has a silver lining. In Danish, we say, "Nothing is so bad that it isn't good for something." In this case, the upside was the severance package. If I'd quit, I'd have received nothing. Because I was laid off after so many years of service, I was entitled to at least nine months of pay. I can use this package as a foundation to build toward my future plans. I still am going into the office for talks and office hours I still have an office access card and my company laptop, at the latest until December when I'm officially terminated. In the meantime, I'm still keen to be helpful. I went into the office today because we had a call with our AL-Go for GitHub product users. Over the years, I introduced this tool to many customers and partners at conferences and in blog posts. I feel a responsibility not only to maintain the product but also to reassure them that they are in safe hands. I'm also in touch with my former team. If they need my help, I'll answer questions, share guidance, or whatever else helps. There's no reason to stop doing that. Next month, I'll be hosting a session for current staff — a kind of motivational talk about my career at Microsoft and the good, bad, and not-so-fun decisions I made. One of those decisions was working my butt off for years. Nobody told me to spend 20 hours on weekends or to work as hard as I did, but I did it because it felt like the right thing to do. I did it because I genuinely felt a connection to our partners, our customers, and my colleagues. And, honestly, I still do.
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Forbes
If You Get This Message From Apple Or Google, It's An Attack
Delete all these messages. There's nothing a cyber criminal likes more than highly publicized events, sudden fear and a sense or urgency. And so last week's headlines that 16 billion passwords leaked in the 'largest ever data breach' hit the jackpot. That this 'opened access' to Apple and Google accounts, the most prized of all, just made it all the sweeter. The fact there's no new data breach impacting Google or Apple or Microsoft or Facebook is beside the point. This is an amalgamation of various breaches, collecting data from multiple sources including infostealers on PCs. But users reading the headlines will not realize and will understandably panic. This highlights the weakness in using passwords to secure accounts. Despite what you've read, the answer is not to reset or change all your passwords. It's to enable two-factor authentication on all your key accounts — especially the likes of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. Better still, switch to passkeys where you can. But many everyday users are now at risk from attacks, whether or not their user names and passwords were in any of those breached datasets. Attackers will now send out emails pretending to be from Apple, Google or other brands, warning of the breach and linking to the public headlines and password reset advice. And those emails or texts will helpfully include a password reset link or a helpline number to call. We've already seen multiple attacks on Apple and Google users, with fake support emails or calls or texts warning that accounts are compromised and passwords need to be reset. These recent headlines are a surprise gift to those attackers. And so, a timely reminder that no major tech brand — Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook included — will ever reach out to you about an account security problem or to reset a password. If you receive any such message or call, it's an attack. Period. Google has asked me in the past to 'please reiterate to your readers that Google will not contact you to reset your password or troubleshoot account issues.' The same is true for all those others. It never happens. As the FBI says, 'legitimate customer, security, or tech support companies will not initiate unsolicited contact with individuals." Even if a message is so plausible that you can't ignore it, you must still delete it and access your account using the usual means. Online or using your app. If there's a password issue you'll be directed to a reset option. There won't be. Similarly, if you receive a call or a message to call back, do not respond. Access your account as normal. Google and Apple account details are the most valuable, granting access to many apps and services and the mobile phones that control our lives. But treat any messages from Microsoft or Facebook or any other brand in the wake of this 'breach' the same way. The key advice — to add 2FA or passkeys — will protect you even if a breach is new. The final advice is to avoid SMS 2FA — use another method if you can.
