At Quantum World Congress, I met with Dr. Kristin Gilkes who is the Global Quantum Leader for EY to discuss what the landscape of quantum is today.

The way Kristin sees this space, is that she recognizes that not everyone can afford to invest in experimental quantum hardware. Their broader goal is to democratize quantum, and EY has been testing and curating an ecosystem of vendors who are entering the market in droves — just in the last two years they have seen 800 new vendors come through. A client can work with EY and have access to the very best in all these disciplines without spending a lot of money, because they have already done the trial and error.

As EY Global Innovation Quantum Leader, she focuses her time and energy on quantum research projects including portfolio optimization, anomaly detection, sustainable energy demand planning, and DNA sequencing and drug discovery, as well as the more defensive cybersecurity efforts. Today, their team really focuses on quantum sensing since it’s on a “now” time horizon – this is advanced sensor technology that yields extreme accuracy for a wide range of applications, from developing more reliable geolocation systems, more accurate medical diagnostic imaging and safer autonomous vehicles. About a quarter of her time is spent on educating people within EY and externally about what quantum is all about.