Qubit Confidential

Quantum.Tech is delighted to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) and Women's History Month 2025 with our latest podcast - a deep dive into the fascinating journey of Celia Merzbacher, the Executive Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C). From geochemistry to quantum, Celia's story is nothing short of inspiring. Under her leadership, the QED-C, established under the 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act, is fostering international collaboration and workforce development. Don't miss out on this exciting episode!

Christopher Bishop interviews Steve Suarez, CEO of HorizonX, about his journey in the quantum technology field starting at HSBC and his current role leading HorizonX. As Global Head of Innovation at HSBC, Steve explored quantum computing, taking courses at MIT. He has now co-designed a course for MIT to educate executives about quantum technology and its strategic implementation! Steve’s objective as CEO at HorizonX is to advise companies on real-world applications of quantum technology.

Zulfi Alam, Corporate Vice President of Quantum at Microsoft, has been involved for many years with innovative technology that wants to be a product - from Xbox to HoloLens to quantum.

Microsoft has supported a quantum program for 17 straight years making it the longest running program in the company's history! They are comfortable within their own vertical, and also love collaborating and building platforms that span across multiple partners.

My next episode is live! Dr. Saif Al-Kuwari, Associate Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Director of the Qatar Center for Quantum Computing, discussed efforts to foster collaboration between academia, industry, and government as well as ongoing projects in quantum key distribution (QKD) and post-quantum cryptography (PQC). We also talked about the overall challenges of developing quantum technologies in the larger context of supporting innovation.

The next episode of Qubit Confidental is live!

I spoke with Philip Intallura, Group Head of Quantum Technologies at HSBC about his unconventional journey from quantum physics research to banking, driven by the potential of quantum technologies.

Philip highlighted HSBC's strategic investment in quantum, emphasizing its dual impact: generating a projected $2 trillion in value by 2035 as well as the need to manage the threat to current encryption protocols posed by quantum computers.

HSBC's initiatives include joining BT and Toshiba's quantum network and piloting tokenized gold transactions using post-quantum cryptography.

Collaborations with 50 partners, including IBM and Oxford University spin-offs, are crucial. Regulatory engagement is always top of mind, with proactive guidance from bodies like NIST and the G7 cyber committee.

HSBC focuses on real-world use cases and emphasizes the importance of executive sponsorship and the relationships that are enabled by attending in-person conferences and events.

The premiere episode of Qubit Confidential is live!

I spoke with Manfred Rieck, Deutsche Bahn's Vice President of Individual Solution Development. We discussed how they optimize train routes and schedules using a hybrid approach combining quantum and high-performance computing. 

Manfred started as a computer scientist and, some years ago, led large parts of Deutsche Bahn's software development.

In terms of quantum adoption, the question became: What economic advantage can we provide when using new technologies? Deutsche Bahn sought a solution for a dedicated business problem – managing logistics.

In addition to developing internal solutions, Deutsche Bahn is working with the European Quantum Industry Group and the Federal Quantum Alliance, two organizations fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Manfred advises organizations to prioritize stakeholder and senior management support when adopting quantum technology.

Listen to the full episode today.