Cue the QC questions
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| | Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Becca Coggins, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms
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| | | | Quantum computing (QC) has the potential to solve complex problems well beyond the limits of classical computing. While the technology has long been viewed as a possible security threat, it also represents a significant opportunity—with McKinsey research suggesting it could create multibillions of dollars in enterprise value in the coming decade. This week, we look at how leaders can start preparing for QC to give their organizations a competitive edge. | | | |
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| | | QC’s massive problem-solving capabilities have potential applications across industries, and hundreds of global organizations are beginning to embrace the technology. McKinsey’s Henning Soller, Sven Smit, and Anna Heid say quantum computers could become mainstream within the next five years. “CEOs don’t need to understand the intricacies of quantum computing to derive value from it. But they do need to know enough about the technology to understand where QC is headed and how it could affect their [profit and loss],” the authors note. Deploying QC could help businesses achieve cost savings, productivity gains, or other measurable business results. The authors recommend three steps for leaders to get started: | | | | | Craft a defensive strategy by examining potential quantum-related security risks, while also taking an offensive approach by mapping specific business problems to potential quantum solutions. | | | | | | | Secure options for strategic relationships with quantum hardware or cloud providers and move quickly to hire a team of QC experts. | | | | | | | Design a few high-value QC experiments and prepare to get the company’s data ready for a quantum future. | | | | |
| | | | | | That’s the economic value worldwide that QC could create by 2035 as current industry use cases scale and new ones emerge, according to McKinsey’s 2026 Quantum Technology Monitor report. McKinsey’s Henning Soller and his coauthors report that QC companies generated more than $1 billion in revenue worldwide in 2025 and could reach $4.4 billion in revenue by 2028. Investment in quantum technology start-ups reached $12.6 billion in 2025, which was 6.3 times higher than in 2024. | | |
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| | | “What’s becoming increasingly clear is that quantum can no longer be positioned solely as a technical concern; it must be a leadership priority—and the time to act is now.” | | | McKinsey’s Charlie Lewis, Henning Soller, Sebastian Schneider, and their coauthors note that most companies still lack a road map for dealing with quantum cybersecurity threats. Given QC’s potential to break today’s strongest encryptions, the authors say leaders must identify which parts of their tech infrastructure support the most critical business processes and which are most vulnerable to disruptions. Companies that are slow to address these issues will likely face higher migration costs and have less flexibility in managing the transition to QC.
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| While business leaders today are focusing on AI’s potential to automate work, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is already thinking about how QC may surpass AI in certain tasks. Krishna predicts that, within the next decade, QC will be able to solve problems that AI cannot handle very well. “Quantum is much more about deep compute—so, looking forward as opposed to looking backward on data,” he says in an interview with McKinsey’s Eric Kutcher. “At some point as quantum gets better and more mature, it will replace some of the AI work.” For leaders, the key is understanding which business problems QC can solve. Krishna notes that some companies are already using QC algorithms in applications such as portfolio optimization and bond pricing. “You can already start to look at new solutions with quantum, and that unlocks new markets,” he says.
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| On the road to large-scale enterprise adoption of QC, some industries are traveling faster than others. Leading financial institutions, for example, are moving to protect themselves against security risks while investing in quantum capabilities that can generate near-term business value. One key strategy is embracing hybrid computing—running some parts of a workflow on a quantum computer while using classical computers for the rest. “By adopting hybrid approaches, institutions can solve complex problems today without waiting for fully scaled quantum hardware to mature,” say McKinsey’s Henning Soller and Martina Gschwendtner. They identify emerging banking use cases that could help reduce costs, enhance revenue, and unlock new business opportunities. These include derivative pricing, credit risk evaluation, fraud detection, and digital currency known as “quantum money.” McKinsey research suggests that QC’s economic value in the finance industry could reach between $400 billion and $600 billion by 2035.
| | | Lead by starting your quantum computing journey. | | | | | —Edited by Eric Quiñones, senior editor, New Jersey
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