Quantum computing companies to see real-world use cases in 2022 - TechHQ

IBM has big plans for quantum computing in 2022

Quantum computing is finally making its presence felt among companies around the world. Over the last few years, companies have shown interest in quantum computing but often couldn’t make definitive decisions on using the technology, as there was not enough research on its practical applications beyond the theoretical.

Nevertheless, 2021 has been a remarkable year for the quantum computing industry. Not only has there been more research on the potential use cases for the technology, but investments in quantum computing have shot up globally to boot.

While the US and China continue to compete with each other for supremacy in this evolving branch of computing, other countries and organizations around the world have slowly been playing catch up as well. And now, 2022 is expected to be the year whereby companies can start seeing quantum computing breakthroughs that could result in practical uses.

According to the first annual Enterprise Quantum Computing Adoption Report by Zapata Computing, 69% of global enterprises have already adopted, or plan to adopt quantum computing solutions in the near term. The report, which involved over 300 leaders at large multinational enterprises, also showed that 74% of them agreed that those who fail to adopt quantum computing will fall behind.

The driving motivator behind quantum computing’s adoption is that the technology is poised to deliver better business performances and results. In fact, some companies are already on the way to an advantage, with 12% of early and advanced quantum adopters expecting to achieve some form of competitive advantage within the next year; and 41% expecting some form of competitive advantage within two years.

Not surprisingly, American companies report being the closest to a competitive quantum advantage, with 12% of enterprises that have started on the path to quantum adoption expecting to achieve an advantage within one year, if they haven’t already. Meanwhile, Germany is the most bullish on achieving a competitive advantage with quantum computing, with 44% of German respondents predicting an advantage within two years, followed by Canada at 38%, the UK and Australia at 33% each, and the US at 31%.

Machine learning (ML) and data analytics problems are the top use cases for both early as well as the more advanced adopters of quantum computing. For example, in the US, 71% of enterprises are investing in ML and data analytics problems compared to 51% worldwide. This is intuitive because enterprises already have ML talent, algorithms, and applications in place.

Machine learning is also the most likely use case to deliver near-term value for businesses because in areas where classical ML struggles, such as generative models of unsupervised and semi-supervised learning for augmenting datasets in predictive models, are better suited for quantum devices.

Interestingly though, despite the growing investments in quantum computing, companies are still facing several hurdles. The biggest hurdle to quantum adoption is the complexity of integrating quantum computing with the existing enterprise IT stack, a hurdle shared by 49% of respondents. Having a sufficiently sophisticated skillset to work on the technology, is also a hurdle. This is why dealing with these complexities mostly comes with the help of specialized third-party vendors.

Despite these hindrances, companies are heavily investing in quantum computing. Even as 96% of respondents pointed out that they would need more than 10 minutes to explain quantum computing to a friend at a party, the reality is, adoption of the technology is gaining momentum at a rapid clip, as the world moves towards the quantum decade.