International specialists analyse the maturity of quantum computing, the technological challenges it still has to overcome and the applications that will be the first to transform business.
Quantum computing is approaching a decisive moment. After decades of research and development, the sector is beginning to see the transition from a promising technology to a tool capable of transforming entire industries. Although significant scientific and technological challenges remain, more and more experts believe its commercial take-off is closer than it seems.
José Luis Amat, CEO of Bluzec, speaking from Boston, sums up this stage with a particularly illustrative comparison: “We are at the pre-ChatGPT moment. Everyone is wondering how long it will be until we use it on a mass scale. In my opinion, we are almost there.” A reflection that captures the prevailing feeling among those who work with this technology every day: its potential is no longer in question; the challenge is turning it into real applications for companies and organisations.
Europe needs to speed up
The future of quantum computing will depend not only on scientific advances, but also on the ability to turn knowledge into business innovation. In this scenario, talent development and technology entrepreneurship will play a decisive role.
Joaquín Vila, researcher at the Universitat de València, cites the example of Israel, “a country of eight million inhabitants with one of the most disruptive ecosystems in the world,” where entrepreneurial culture begins to be fostered in secondary schools and where research laboratories actively aim to turn university students into quantum entrepreneurs. Compared with that model, he believes that “Europe loses out on speed of execution and private investment” and regrets that Spanish universities still do not sufficiently encourage an entrepreneurial spirit.
Post-quantum cybersecurity has already begun
If there is one area where quantum computing is starting to have tangible consequences, it is cybersecurity. The future ability of quantum computers to break many of today’s cryptographic algorithms has made post-quantum cryptography one of the top priorities of governments and major technology companies.
Unai Antero, member of Telefónica’s Quantum Talent and Technologies Centre, points out that the company has been working for more than fifteen years to protect communications against that scenario and warns of a threat still little known to many organisations: Harvest now, decrypt later. “If we have data that we are worried someone might be able to read in 2030, perhaps we should already be worried,” he says.
From a complementary perspective, David Moreno, Head of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies at DAS Photonics, explains that since 2019 the company has been working with the European Space Agency and Honeywell on the development of secure quantum communication systems between satellites and between satellite and ground, an area considered strategic for the critical infrastructure of the future.
A technology race that is still open
One of the sector’s big questions is still which technology will end up prevailing to build future quantum computers. Superconductors, photonics and topological qubits represent different approaches to the same goal and, for the time being, none has become established as the standard.
José Blasco, CEO of recQon, speaking from Palo Alto, California, compares this situation to the historic battle between VHS and Betamax. “It won’t be a question of which technology is better, but of who knows how to apply it best to the market,” he argues.
José Luis Amat takes the debate a step further and believes that the real economic opportunity will lie in applications rather than in technological infrastructure. “For me, the hardware battle is lost. The real opportunity is in software, anticipating a cloud-type scenario where each company will choose its quantum provider just as it chooses between AWS, Azure or Google today.”
Not everyone shares this view. David Moreno believes hardware remains the industry’s main challenge. “Hardware is where most of quantum’s technical problems lie today. There is still a great deal to do to turn all this into a commodity,” he says. A disagreement that shows just how open the technological debate remains.
The first applications are taking shape
Although there is still no application capable of popularising quantum computing as ChatGPT did with artificial intelligence, the consensus is that the first success stories will come in areas where optimisation and simulation capabilities offer advantages impossible to achieve with classical computing.
José Blasco places logistics and process optimisation among the first sectors to undergo that transformation and notes that his company is already working on quantum solutions capable of integrating with the ERP systems used by companies.
For José Luis Amat, banking and cybersecurity will be two of the first sectors to take advantage of this computing power, and he sums up the need to anticipate with a phrase that goes beyond technology: “Fear is never a good adviser, but prevention is.”
David Moreno offers a particularly vivid comparison to explain the paradigm shift this technology represents. “Quantum isn’t going from a Twingo to a Ferrari. It isn’t a faster car; it’s using a boat instead of a car. We have to see which oceans it can sail.”
Access will be mainly via the cloud
Everything suggests that the future of quantum computing will be based mainly on remote access models, much as organisations consume cloud services today. However, some specialists believe that certain strategic sectors will require their own infrastructure.
Joaquín Vila imagines a scenario in which “in every airport, in every port, I see a quantum computer installed,” while David Moreno adds a geopolitical dimension, arguing that the need for technological sovereignty vis-à-vis the United States and China will drive the development of Europe’s own hardware.
A technology that will force us to reinvent ourselves
Beyond scientific advances or specific applications, quantum computing will demand a permanent change in the way organisations incorporate innovation. The speed at which this ecosystem evolves will require companies and professionals to maintain a continuous capacity to adapt.
Unai Antero sums up this idea with a reflection that will probably remain valid for many years: “We have to be ready to reinvent ourselves and retrain, because with quantum we know, more or less, where we are today, but not where we will be in a few years. That will require continuous reinvention, probably more than once.”
Recent history shows that disruptive technologies transform not only processes, but also the way organisations compete. Everything indicates that quantum computing will follow the same path and that those who start preparing today will have a competitive advantage when this new technological revolution reaches maturity.