Rising awareness, growing risks, and industry consensus are pushing quantum computing from research labs into boardroom strategy.
World Quantum Day is gaining momentum as quantum computing moves from scientific exploration to a boardroom priority. Growing awareness is being driven not only by breakthroughs in research, but also by a clear shift in business thinking, with quantum increasingly seen as both a strategic opportunity and an emerging risk.
Celebrated worldwide on April 14, World Quantum Day was launched by quantum scientists on 14 April 2021 as a decentralised, global initiative to promote awareness and understanding of quantum science and technology through activities ranging from talks and exhibitions to lab tours and panel discussions.
Industry leaders are aligned in their outlook: the window to prepare is narrowing, particularly as advances in quantum capabilities threaten current encryption standards and reshape long-term data security. This convergence of urgency and opportunity is turning World Quantum Day into more than a symbolic milestone. It is increasingly becoming a marker of how seriously organisations are preparing for the next era of computing.
Momentum is also being reinforced by the pace of development among major technology players. IBM says it is targeting near-term quantum advantage by the end of 2026 and the first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029, underscoring how quickly the conversation is moving from long-term possibility to practical planning.
The UAE, meanwhile, is positioning itself at the forefront of this shift. The Technology Innovation Institute’s Quantum Research Center says it is driving the development of quantum technologies in the region and aims to build the Arab world’s first quantum computer. In 2025, TII also announced a partnership with Quantinuum to give UAE researchers access to advanced quantum systems, including Helios, in a move designed to strengthen the country’s role as a global hub for quantum research and innovation.
Tahawultech.com spoke to leading experts to understand the business impact of quantum computing and how it is likely to shape future competitiveness.
Stefan Leichenauer, VP – Engineering at SandboxAQ
The remaining time we have to prep before scaled quantum computers arrive is extremely valuable: once they arrive, the well-prepared will be rewarded while others will be left behind. This is especially evident in cybersecurity. Recent progress in quantum algorithms and experimental systems has brought credible estimates that large-scale quantum machines could break RSA as early as 2029, so the threat may arrive faster than many expect. Those who do not implement quantum-safe protocols, a years-long process, will be vulnerable.
Similarly, in high-impact areas like pharmaceutical development and materials design, where quantum computing is expected to bring early benefits, we need to integrate quantum-ready processes into our workflows so that we are ready to incorporate quantum computers right away. Moving from awareness to action now is about building a quantum-ready posture in general.
Early quantum investments create a real advantage when they tie to domain-specific problems and integrate with existing high-performance computing and AI. Quantum computers will not operate in a vacuum; instead, they will be part of quantum-classical hybrid workflows that we can put together today. The enterprises that build hybrid pipelines now will accumulate algorithms, datasets, and operational know-how that fast followers will struggle to replicate. In key industries, especially pharmaceutical development and next-gen materials, we can use the classical part of the hybrid workflow today while simultaneously laying the groundwork for future quantum advantage.
Technology leaders should start by inventorying long-lived data and systems that rely on public key cryptography and must remain confidential for 10–20+ years. They should use this inventory to drive a roadmap for cryptoagility and the phased deployment of postquantum cryptography. This is a must for all organisations, regardless of whether they plan to take advantage of quantum-driven opportunities.
The other key action item is to move to cloud infrastructure, if they are not there already. Not only is that a smart security move, but quantum computers will essentially only be accessible through the cloud.
“Very few organisations will have the expertise and infrastructure to house their own quantum computer, so any leader wanting to productively use quantum computers must be cloud-native.”
David Lewis, Global SVP at Endava
Businesses really need to be aware of Harvest Now, Decrypt Later (HNDL) operations, and their impact — adversaries have been actively intercepting encrypted data that will be decrypted once Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQC) mature.
In practical terms this means classically encrypted data that was captured today could be decrypted within the next 5-10 years. Industry estimates suggest that more than 10 billion records are harvested each year, which, coupled with a sharp decline in storage costs, makes bulk interception “economically trivial”.
Delaying action, such as the application of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms (e.g., CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm), will compress an already tight timeline, increase migration costs, and leave your organisation exposed to HNDL-inspired attacks.
Early investments in quantum research translate into commercial advantage via three distinct pathways: near-term quantum-inspired optimisation, mid-term hybrid quantum-classical workflows, and long-term quantum-native breakthroughs.
For example,
- Financial services will benefit from faster pricing, real-time hedging, and greater accuracy in risk modelling for capital requirements.
- Energy and critical infrastructure will gain from grid optimisation, enhanced material development (e.g. battery material), operational resilience, and optimised carbon capture)
“Technology leaders must execute a strategy that pilots quantum-enabled capabilities for competitive advantage while simultaneously hardening data, applications, and infrastructure against quantum-era threats.”
Start by securing the foundation; create an inventory of crypto-assets, classify (e.g. longevity and sensitivity) data, pilot hybrid post-quantum cryptography (PQC), assess vendor PQC readiness, and apply security by design (e.g. architect a crypto-agility framework).
Ritesh Kakkad, Co-founder, XDC Network
A trade finance document signed on blockchain today, whether a bill of lading, a letter of credit, or a tokenised receivable, must remain legally valid for 20 to 30 years. Every one of those documents uses ECDSA, the digital signature standard that secures most of the world’s blockchain transactions today, and it is cryptography that quantum computers will break.
The threat is not limited to blockchain. The same encryption standards protecting global banking systems, cloud platforms, and payment infrastructure today are equally vulnerable. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer would not distinguish between a blockchain signature and the encryption securing a SWIFT transaction or a major cloud provider’s data centre. The exposure is systemic.
The organisations that understand this best have already moved. Google has set 2029 as its target for full post-quantum cryptography migration. At XDC, we launched the Post-Quantum Initiative in March 2026, a structured programme to rebuild our cryptographic foundations before quantum computers make current security standards obsolete. We already have a working prototype in our development codebase and a four-phase migration plan built around the deadlines set by the EU and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. We are at the start of that journey today because the right time to build quantum resilience is before you need it. By the time the threat is visible, the window to prepare has already closed.
The race to quantum-safe infrastructure has a clear winner’s profile: whoever regulated institutions trust when the threat materialises.
At XDC, we are building toward that on three fronts. First, working code. While Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Solana are still debating, XDC already has a functioning prototype of Falcon, one of the quantum-resistant signature algorithms approved by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, deployed in our official development codebase.
Second, standards authorship. We are co-developing XDSS-PQ, a quantum-safe trade document signing standard, with the International Trade and Forfaiting Association, the International Chamber of Commerce, and TradeTrust. Every institution handling trade finance digitally will need to align to that specification, making XDC the reference they build toward.
Third, compliance alignment. Our node operators, including SBI Holdings and Deutsche Telekom, face hard deadlines. China’s national cryptography standard mandates post-quantum migration by January 2027. The EU requires full migration by December 2030. The networks these institutions run on must meet that bar.
If XDC’s security meets it, we become the infrastructure of choice. If it does not, we become a liability for our own ecosystem.
The steps every technology leader should take today are straightforward, even if the execution is not. Audit the security vulnerabilities that quantum computers will exploit and identify every system at risk. Design for agility and post-quantum security in parallel rather than replacing one standard with another. And upgrade your communications infrastructure to the latest quantum-safe encryption standards now, without waiting for broader changes. Adversaries are already recording encrypted data to decrypt once quantum hardware matures. Google, Cloudflare, and AWS have already made that move at scale. The overhead is minimal. The case for waiting is not.
Audit what you have. Build systems that can run two security standards at once. Stop the data harvesting today.
“When Google sets 2029 as its migration target, this is no longer a research conversation. It is an engineering priority.”
But individual action is not enough. There is currently no binding global standard that requires technology providers or financial infrastructure operators to migrate to post-quantum cryptography on a defined timeline. The EU and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology have set benchmarks, but they are not universally enforceable. Governments and global standardisation bodies need to move faster, mandating quantum-safe requirements for cloud providers, payment systems, and financial infrastructure before the window closes. The organisations that act early will be ahead. The ones that wait for regulation to force their hand may find they have run out of time.
Source: Tahawul Tech