Early enterprise adopters of quantum computing are moving past the exploration stage, building the applications and teams they will need to leverage quantum technology and gain a competitive advantage. Following close behind, other enterprises acknowledge they must address quantum’s promise to disrupt — and are beginning to take concrete steps to investigate exactly where it can impact their businesses.
All organizations believe it is still too early to tell which technology platforms will be the ultimate winners, and are concerned about being locked in with the wrong partners. For more insight on how far along organizations are in their adoption of quantum computing and the challenges they’re facing, in December 2021 Zapata Computing commissioned a survey of 300 leaders at large global enterprises (CIOs, CTOs and other VP-level and above executives) with estimated 2021 revenues of over $250 million, and estimated computing budgets over $1 million.
The results paint a clear picture of the momentum in the market, but draw a line between those enterprises playing to win now, and those that don’t yet have a clear approach for taking advantage of quantum computing.
Quantum Has Moved From the Enterprise Fringes to the Core of the Analytics Agenda:
- The quantum naysayers are now a minority: 74% of enterprise leaders agree that “those who fail to adopt quantum computing solutions will fall behind.”
- Quantum is now moving beyond the planning stage: 69% of enterprises across the globe reveal they have adopted or are planning to adopt quantum computing in the next year. Those who have already adopted in some form are close to one-third of the market at 29%.
- US respondents led in quantum adoption, followed closely by Canada and China. However, given the small sample sizes from several countries, our global data may not line up with other reports.
Early Quantum Adopters Set the Stage for Their Peers Across the Globe
- Enterprises leading in quantum adoption are setting the example for the rest of the market — they 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. The long-held belief that quantum is years — if not decades — away, is no more.
- American companies report being the closest to a quantum competitive 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.
- Germany is the most bullish on achieving competitive advantage with quantum within two years, 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%.
What Are the Most Advanced Quantum Adopters Doing to Prepare?
Quantum-adopting enterprises are preparing on multiple fronts: 51% are identifying talent/building an internal team; 49% are experimenting and building proofs of concept; 48% are running experiments on quantum hardware or simulators, and 46% are building new applications.
Although enterprises are motivated in part by concerns over falling behind competitors, the potential business value is the leading motivation for quantum adoption. The value to be gained from quantum is immense and spans many industries, with use cases including financial portfolio optimization, drug discovery and supply chain optimization — of particular importance in light of the ongoing supply chain crisis.