🔮 What is your most confident prediction for the quantum industry over the next 12 months?

While we will see progress on Hardware side from all ends - sensing, computing and communication I am quite certain that at least three pure Algorithmic Players in the Quantum Computing domain will join forces and merge.

Thomas Ehmer, Innovation Incubator, Merck KGA

'The metric shift from "qubit count" to "what did you actually solve?" Companies still marketing raw qubit numbers by Q4 2026 will look very 2024-ish. I would expect at least one major pharma or materials company to announce a quantum-classical hybrid pipeline that's genuinely in production — not a press release pilot.'

Zoran Krunic, Senior Data Scientist, Amgen

'A true logical qubit, and hopefully a new algorithmic primitive'

Clemens Utschig-Utschig, Chief Technology Officer & Head of IT Technology, Strategy Boehringer Ingelheim

'Clarity in the push. The roadmaps won’t be qualitative statements of intent, but quantitative roadmaps with metrics of success. By the end of the 12 months there is hope the pull is therefore driven by clear advantage gain rather than reliant on estimates.'

Lucy Maidwell, Senior Engineer - Simulation & Modelling, MBDA Missile Systems

'The industry will make many more breakthroughs that will advance Quantum Technologies. Over the next 12 months we will see more real-world pilots in finance, energy, and materials, with governments and enterprises investing heavily in skills and early adoption to get quantum-ready.'

Steve Suarez, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, HorizonX Consulting

'We will see big steps forward in next-generation quantum companies - the non-quantum, quantum companies. Those who will be using quantum as one piece of a wider stack to address hugely significant challenges. This might not be highly visible at first, but it's coming, will be the platform for something significantly more impactful than we have yet seen.'

John Barnes, Principal and Owner, Entangled Positions

'Over the next year, I’m confident we’ll see quantum computers used more for real-world simulation. Companies and labs will run small but meaningful experiments (such as like simulating materials) that show quantum’s unique advantages. It won’t be “world-changing” yet, but it will prove the tech is moving from theory to practice. And, with commercialization a major goal for the ecosystem, this would be a well-received outcome.'

Kimberly D McGuire, Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA), Brookhaven National Lab