PQShield Appoints New Commercial and Sovereign Security Leaders

Insider Brief

• PQShield has appointed Hal Conklin as Chief Commercial Officer and Gemma Ungoed-Thomas as Sovereign Advisor as the company expands its post-quantum security business.
• Conklin will lead PQShield’s global commercial strategy, with a focus on US operations, partnerships and adoption of post-quantum cryptography.
• Ungoed-Thomas will advise on government, critical infrastructure and national resilience issues, drawing on her experience in UK cyber policy and national security.

PRESS RELEASE — PQShield, a global leader in post-quantum cryptography (PQC), is strengthening its leadership team with two major hires, as demand for quantum-safe security accelerates across governments, critical infrastructure and major technology providers.

Hal Conklin, joins as Chief Commercial Officer bringing more than 30 years of experience turning emerging technologies into scalable businesses. 

He has led go-to-market for five technology companies later acquired by Arm, Synopsys, Autodesk, Ansys and Cellebrite, with experience spanning early market traction, strategic partnerships and scaling revenue organisations. Hal will lead PQShield’s global commercial strategy across sales, partnerships and go-to-market execution, with a particular focus on growing the company’s US operations and customer base while accelerating adoption of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) globally.

At the same time, Gemma Ungoed-Thomas joins as Sovereign Advisor, bringing deep experience at the intersection of emerging technology, national resilience and government. 

As former Director for State Threats, Cyber and Technology in the UK Cabinet Office, Gemma advised the Prime Minister and Cabinet on cyber security, AI and emerging technology, led delivery of the UK’s £2bn National Cyber Strategy, and previously led national cyber incident response at the National Cyber Security Centre. 

Her appointment strengthens PQShield’s ability to support governments and critical infrastructure organisations as post-quantum security becomes increasingly tied to sovereign capability, defence and long-term national resilience.

The appointments come as PQShield builds on significant momentum across the business, including:

• Fortune 500: Multiple licenses to Fortune 500 networking and semiconductor businesses, ranging from high performance PQC in the world’s leading firewalls, to small footprint PQC solutions for Edge AI 
• Critical national infrastructure (CNI): Working with Oil, Gas and other CNI organisations, driven by global Government engagements across the UK, US and Japan 
• Defense: Positive adoption in defense, from both Prime Contractors and their supply chain vendors 

The global transition to post-quantum security is accelerating as governments and major technology providers move from setting standards to putting formal migration plans in place. In the UK, the NCSC has set a target for organisations to complete migration to post-quantum cryptography by 2035, with discovery and planning expected by 2028 and early high-priority migration by 2031. In the US, a June 2026 White House order directed an accelerated nationwide migration to PQC and set deadlines for high-value federal systems, while also calling for support for critical infrastructure operators. Major technology providers are moving in parallel, with Cloudflare and Google targeting full post-quantum security by 2029.

Ali El Kaafarani, CEO and co-founder of PQShield, said: “Post-quantum security has reached a critical turning point. With standards finalised and government migration deadlines set, organizations face the urgent task of securing complex, long-life systems against both quantum and AI-driven threats. PQShield exists to deliver that core resilience. Hal and Gemma bring the sovereign and commercial expertise needed to scale our mission globally, helping customers navigate these dual technology shifts with confidence.”

Hal Conklin, Chief Commercial Officer at PQShield, said: “Post-quantum security is moving into a much bigger commercial phase, particularly in the US as government, defence and critical infrastructure organisations turn migration plans into real deployment decisions. I’ve seen how quickly markets can scale when the technology, customer need and go-to-market model align, and that is the opportunity I see here. My focus will be on building the commercial engine, deepening our US presence and converting growing demand into long-term customer relationships at scale.”

Gemma Ungoed-Thomas, Sovereign Advisor at PQShield, said: “Post-quantum security is rapidly becoming a national security priority, at a time when AI is also reshaping the threat landscape. Governments are having to think now about how they protect critical infrastructure, strengthen supply chains and ensure the systems they depend on can remain secure for decades. PQShield is already working at the heart of that transition, and I’m looking forward to advising the company as it supports public sector and critical infrastructure organisations globally.”