IBM, Microsoft and Boeing mark advances in quantum computing

Since one of those potential applications involves breaking existing encryption, NIST’s announcements of new quantum-proof encryption standards this August couldn’t have come at a better time.

Gartner analyst Chirag Dekate says it makes sense for enterprises leaning into a research and development mindset to take advantage of a platform that combines quantum computing with high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

“The question they’re asking themselves is, do they want to be an innovator, or wait on the sidelines?” he says. “The combination of AI and HPC enables them to explore a larger design space, in health care, financial services, manufacturing, and beyond. And they identify inflection points where classical advantage ends and quantum advantage begins.”

The enterprises are partnering with quantum platform provers like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon, he says. “They get their hands on these systems and explore what it takes to develop applications in a quantum context. It’s a really challenging task but these are real activities that researchers and enterprises are actually engaged with.”

Quantum investment expert Jennifer Addie, COO of advisory firm VentureScope and strategy direction at MACH37, a cyber accelerator program, says she was excited to hear Microsoft’s announcement. “For those looking at the trajectory, the progress is significant and faster than most people expected to see,” she says.

The prevailing sentiment has long been that quantum computers are still far in the distance, and that companies have plenty of time to prepare. “Well, it’s closer than you might think,” she says.