The Quantum Moment is Now

Fresh from London Tech Week, where D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz highlighted the growing real-world potential of quantum, this week I’m joining leaders from technology, government, research, and industry at Qubits Europe 2026, also occurring in London.

A recently released report, “The Quantum Effect: How Quantum Computing is Reshaping Business Today in Preparation for Tomorrow’s Quantum Economy,” from Censuswide and D-Wave highlighted the growing view that quantum computing technology can deliver real-world value today. According to the report, 65% of the UK business leaders surveyed are already adopting or testing quantum computing. More than a quarter of UK business leaders surveyed (26%) said that their organisation is actively adopting quantum computing, while a further 39% are experimenting through pilots or proof-of-concept initiatives. Additionally, 87% of respondents said quantum computing could help optimise AI-related processes and complex computational challenges. This study highlights what the quantum computing industry is already seeing. Across Europe, organisations are now starting to use quantum to accelerate innovation, sharpen competitiveness, and unlock new economic opportunity. Quantum could be a key component to powering energy efficient computing solutions that can tackle complex challenges and deliver real-world impact.

The UK government has made significant investments in quantum application development, highlighting proofs of technology in areas such as domestic manufacturing, life sciences, and electrical grid resilience. The next step is clear: government support for implementing quantum-powered solutions in production environments is essential.

Quantum commercialisation - an opportunity for global collaboration

Within the framework of mission-led innovation, the UK government has recently reinforced its commitment to quantum commercialisation, infrastructure, and public-sector adoption to advance social prosperity and security. In his April 2026 address to the U.S. Congress, His Majesty King Charles III identified quantum computing as one of the technologies set to shape the future of UK–U.S. innovation and growth. Underlining that ambition, the UK Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has committed £2 billion to quantum technology — spanning procurement, hardware advancement, near-term application development, and the talent needed to build a quantum-ready workforce.

Quantum is a global industry, and we believe cross-border collaboration is essential to accelerating its adoption and impact. D-Wave recently joined UKQuantum to help advance commercialisation of quantum technologies across the UK. With customers such as North Wales Police and pioneering UK businesses and organisations already building quantum-powered solutions today, D-Wave is proud to support the continued growth of the UK quantum ecosystem. As the first and only company to offer dual-platform quantum computing products (developing both annealing and gate-model systems), D-Wave is well-positioned to collaborate on programs that address real-world use cases to accelerate quantum innovation worldwide .

Delivering energy efficient computing to drive real-world value today

Quantum computing is delivering measurable customer value across several of the UK’s priority sectors. It also offers a pathway for energy-efficient computing, an increasingly urgent priority for many governments. 

Recent proofs-of-concept and production deployments demonstrate that quantum approaches — especially when combined with classical computing — can reduce compute time, improve decision quality, and lower energy use for certain classes of optimisation problems.

Energy Efficient AI

As AI places growing demands on grid infrastructure, quantum computing may offer a more energy-efficient compute option for certain optimisation and modelling tasks when integrated into AI workflows. Researchers around the globe are engaging with annealing quantum computing to optimise some AI workflows including Jülich in Germany whose researchers are developing a quantum-powered machine learning tool that predicts protein-DNA binding with greater accuracy. TRIUMF, Canada's particle accelerator centre, and its partner institutions are showing significant speed-ups over classical approaches for simulating high-energy particle-calorimeter interactions — potentially leading to major efficiencies where the AI model is used to create synthetic data. Honda Innovation Lab and Tohoku University in Japan have developed a method to fine-tune D-Wave’s quantum computers to generate highly accurate samples for training restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs). results than traditional algorithms. 

Turning momentum into meaningful impact

Quantum computing is already delivering measurable value across the public and private sectors, and the pace of progress is accelerating. At Qubits Europe this week, leaders from across the continent will showcase how quantum is being put to work today — from Italy’s planned creation of one of the world’s most powerful quantum hubs as a model for open innovation and collaboration, to Germany’s work to integrate quantum computing into its national supercomputing infrastructure.

Around the world, organisations and governments are investing in quantum applications with a goal to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, support emissions goals, strengthen public safety, and build long-term competitive advantage. For the UK, the opportunity is clear: turn ambition into adoption, transform bold ideas into real-world solutions, and ensure quantum delivers a lasting impact, helping shape a stronger, more resilient, innovation-led economic future.

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Technology and Innovation programme activities

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