The fusion of quantum computing and AI could unlock the next frontier in emerging tech, and mark a turning point for enterprise innovation, with many businesses already looking at the possibilities of faster insights and smarter solutions that quantum AI might bring.

In a global pulse survey of business managers across five countries, including the UK, software provider SAS found that 70% of respondents were familiar with the concept of quantum AI, with 60% actively investing or exploring opportunities in the technology.

Business leaders said that they see most potential for quantum AI in business functions related to data analytics and machine learning (48%), research and development (41%), cybersecurity (35%), supply chain and logistics (31%), finance and risk management (26%), and marketing (20%).

According to SAS, the firm is already working with organisations to apply data and AI to these complex and compute-intensive business challenges, bringing together quantum computing and AI to develop new algorithms, models and systems to solve problems considered challenging or impossible with traditional computers. 

However, early research into quantum computing and quantum AI is often complex and, at times, confusing, with most experts predicting that widespread adoption of quantum technology is still years away.

Last month, research from ISACA found that despite 44% of IT professionals believing quantum will create revolutionary innovations, more than half (52%) reported that their organisations have not integrated quantum computing into their formal strategy or roadmap, and have no current plans around it.

SAS found that there are crucial barriers standing in the way of firms considering the adoption of quantum tech, including quantum AI.

Among their top concerns were high cost (38%), lack of understanding and knowledge (35%), and uncertainty around practical use cases (31%), indicating that while interest in quantum AI is on the rise, organisations need better guidance on the real-world application of quantum technologies.

Added to that, business managers also cited a lack of trained personnel (31%) and a lack of clear regulatory guidelines (26%) as challenges to the adoption of quantum AI.

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“With the emergence of quantum technologies, companies can analyse more data than ever and achieve amazingly fast answers to very complex questions involving myriad variables,” said Bill Wisotsky, principal quantum architect at SAS.

Rather than thinking too far ahead to the possibilities quantum AI might offer, businesses could instead look to shore up their defences against future quantum threats, an area many security professionals believe will soon become a necessity.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum last year, an IBM leader painted a stark picture of the cybersecurity havoc that quantum computers could unleash by the end of the decade, while both the UK’s NCSC and Europol have recently warned financial services should prioritise the transition to quantum-safe cryptography, especially as the risks of ‘store now, decrypt later’ attacks continue to grow.