Big Ideas in Quantum For 2025
Quantum hype or an aware quantum workforce?
Quantum experiment or quantum use case?
AI or Quantum AI?
Over the past year, the quantum industry has matured, possibly not completely matured, but quantum has moved rapidly from a lab curiosity and marketing tagline for new products — like Powerball Quantum Dishwasher Pods and Quantum Storage Bins and Organizational Solutions — to an undeniably powerful tool poised to solve intractable problems faced by industries as diverse as finance and health care.
In this column, we look at ideas and suggestions — some pitched by our readers — on how the quantum community can take quantum technology into the New Year. These are not necessarily New Year’s resolutions for 2025, rather the list includes ideas to consider, attitudes to take and warnings to heed.
Striking a Quantum Hype-Slash-Quantum Readiness Balance
There has never been a group that has fretted so much and done so much to combat excitement about its own technology as the quantum industry. Quantum hype has been obsessively tempered to avoid misleading expectations about the technology’s maturity and practical applications. While this restraint is crucial to maintaining credibility and ensuring realistic timelines, it can misfire by inadvertently stifling the awareness and enthusiasm needed to attract talent, build a diverse workforce and foster societal readiness for quantum adoption. As the artificial intelligence and 5G industries found out, technological rollouts can also ignite a backlash of fear and anger in the general public who haven’t been properly educated or prepared.
This year, the industry should address taking a nuanced approach – balancing responsible messaging with a sense of wonder and possibility – to spark interest and investment while keeping expectations grounded in reality.
Focus on Facilitators
As quantum matures, it will obviously need founders – people who can create startups based on incredibly complex science and technology. The industry will need builders – people who can take startups and turn them into full-blown companies and enterprises. But, the industry needs to focus on facilitators – people who can build relationships with and between policymakers, entrepreneurs and academic leaders.
Facilitators also understand the intricacies of the quantum technology value chain and thrive in weaving these nodes into a prosperous network.
2025 can be the year of real community building as facilitators bring diverse, talented teams together to build strong ecosystems and supply and value chains.
Moving From Quantum Experiments to Quantum Uses
2025 could be the year when quantum technologies transition from experimental demonstrations to niche commercial products. Entrepreneurs should focus on this: targeting specific verticals like drug discovery, materials science, secure communications and logistics optimization. Will this necessarily spark a quantum advantage moment? Maybe. Maybe not.
The shift will highlight not just the power of quantum computing and quantum algorithms, but also the importance of focusing interdisciplinary teams on actual solutions to big problems that can add motivation and a sense of shared mission.
This shift may be uncomfortable for some. Moving from the beauty and freedom of pure science to the bottomline world of applied commercial science isn’t for everyone. But for many, the transition will be inescapable.
More Philosophy
The introduction of Willow sparked a debate across the scientific community, not necessarily about what quantum computers do – but what do they mean? The theoretical potential of quantum computers opens up a new line of scientific investigations into quantum mechanics, which plumbs the depth, currently, of what we know about reality. These devices also provide the tools to help us understand our reality in a much deeper way. For many scientists, this smacks of metaphysics. But this will not scare off the visionaries in the quantum community who could take humanity one step beyond with – as has fueled all new scientific revolutions – new tools of discovery.
Philosophers and theologians should be welcomed as part of the quantum community in 2025 to help us not just adopt, but begin to understand what can be the provocative implications of quantum mechanics.
Quantum Workforce 2.0
As the industry grows, so does the demand for specialized talent. While the quantum field initially relied on PhDs in physics and mathematics, 2025 will emphasize a broader talent pool. We also need roles for non-traditional workers, such as quantum UX designers, quantum ethicists, business leaders and technicians to emerge, reflecting the industry’s evolution from foundational science to application-driven development.
Preparing Quantum Scientists for Business Leadership
The following is in line with the above Quantum Workforce 2.0 idea. Over the years working with the quantum community, it’s probably not been a total shock to me that as smart and talented as quantum scientists are, soft skills and communication are not among their best traits. That has to change — and this isn’t meant to be facetious. The inability to navigate complicated business environments, communicate ideas and foster collaborations can absolutely stunt the most promising technologies. As the quantum industry matures, workforce development must evolve beyond just technical training to include business, communications and organizational psychology.
In 2025, one big idea will be to equip quantum scientists and engineers with the soft skills and business acumen needed to transition into leadership roles. Building a successful quantum company or scaling a startup requires more than cutting-edge research – it demands strategic thinking, people management and the ability to communicate complex ideas to investors, policymakers and customers. Universities, accelerators, and corporate programs will likely introduce leadership tracks tailored to quantum scientists, covering topics such as entrepreneurship, negotiation, team management and storytelling for non-technical audiences.
This shift addresses a critical gap: many of the brightest minds in quantum struggle to articulate their ideas in boardrooms or manage teams outside academia. By fostering well-rounded quantum business leaders, the industry can ensure that groundbreaking innovations translate into commercial success and real-world impact.
The Year of Quantum AI Synergy
The intersection of quantum computing and artificial intelligence is positioned to enter 2025’s headlines. It will be a two-way street, too, with AI helping quantum computing and quantum computing powering AI models. Some things to look for: hybrid models leveraging quantum computing for optimization, generative AI for quantum problem-solving, and even AI-driven error correction will become central to the research landscape. Expect exploratory partnerships between major AI players like OpenAI, Google AI, and quantum startups to scale computational possibilities.
Teams in quantum software, hardware, and full-stack development should closely follow this pivotal fusion of quantum technology and AI, as it promises to reshape both fields and could unlock unprecedented capabilities.
Quantum Technology Beyond Computing
In 2025, the quantum conversation will finally expand beyond computing. While quantum computers often dominate headlines, the real market-ready opportunities might lie in quantum sensing and quantum communication. These technologies are poised to deliver immediate value, solving challenges in areas like navigation, medical imaging and secure data transfer without requiring fault-tolerant quantum processors.
Quantum sensing offers unparalleled precision, enabling breakthroughs in fields like healthcare, where it can improve early disease detection, and geophysics, where it could refine resource exploration. Meanwhile, quantum communication is addressing cybersecurity concerns by laying the groundwork for ultra-secure networks and quantum key distribution (QKD). With growing government investments and pilot projects already underway, 2025 could see a surge in adoption.
Companies and researchers should broaden their focus to include these underappreciated areas. While the race to scalable quantum computing continues, quantum sensing and communication could quietly redefine industries and shape the next wave of technological innovation.
Distributed Ledgers Must Get Quantum Ready
In 2024, we witnessed the resurgence of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. This year, we have seen an unexpected leap in the power of quantum technology. Those two events are not isolated. Both blockchain and quantum technologies are on a path to become more powerful and sophisticated.
As this happens, blockchain technologists must prepare their systems for the potential of quantum devices to disrupt their services. Fortunately, there is time. However, the questions that surround quantum roadmaps and timelines — as well as estimates around distributed ledger technology’s own maturity — are causing some of the leaders in those industries to waver.
This is a “better safe than seriously sorry” moment. If leaders wait for the time when quantum computers can affect blockchains and distributed ledger systems, it will already be too late. Starting to secure now makes good risk management sense.
Quantum Security Hits the Mainstream
In line with the above: Post-quantum cryptography will evolve in 2025 from theoretical constructs to practical applications. News of quantum advances will likely push governments and corporations to accelerate the deployment of quantum-resistant algorithms to safeguard digital infrastructure.
Simultaneously, 2025 could be the year that quantum-safe hardware and protocols may see first-generation rollouts in finance, defense, and critical infrastructure sectors.
Quantum Foundries: Building the Physical Infrastructure
Quantum chips and devices require specialized manufacturing, and 2025 could see major progress in quantum foundries. Facilities designed for scalable production of qubits (e.g., photonic chips or superconducting circuits) will reduce costs and standardize components.
These developments will catalyze the commercialization of hardware innovation — something that will be absolutely necessary to help make quantum technology a fully mature industry.