Identify and differentiate quantum talent for future success

In August, President Biden signed it POTATO CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, approving new investments in quantum information science and technology (QIST). This new legislation builds on decades of accelerated investment to encourage new discoveries and leverage new technologies to ensure U.S. economic and national security. The law allows activities that accelerate the discovery of quantum applications, grow the quantum workforce, and enable cutting-edge research and development.

Larger investments in quantum technology will create greater demand for what is already a small talent pool. Organizations need to understand how QIST impacts their mission in order to hire or upskill the right technologists to advance their strategic priorities.

QIST has the potential to revolutionize any major industry, but the field is still in its infancy and until industry standards and norms are further developed, it may be easy to overlook important differences between the major subsets of quantum technology across the board. see head.

Quantum sensing, computing, and communications require different expertise, and an organization may not need experts in all three areas. Similarly, a single quantum scientist will not be equally suited for roles in the three technology clusters.

With that in mind, organizations must carefully align staff and projects to enable the full potential of quantum technologies.

Distinctive QIST expertise

Harnessing the transformative potential of quantum technology requires a broad and deep talent that is challenging to recruit and retain. To unlock the potential of QIST, leaders must carefully manage the expertise their organizations need for strategic planning and R&D while building hiring pipelines that enable them to scale.

In addition, building a team capable of operationalizing the technology requires input from experts on the target application. For example, to create a quantum financial solution to predict a market crash, an organization would need to pair a quantum scientist with an expert in financial data and modeling.

We can learn several lessons from deploying artificial intelligence (AI) teams. Due to the diversity of expertise under the AI ​​umbrella, it is no longer enough to simply hire an “AI expert”. Rather, the recruiting language has evolved to differentiate AI specialties — between computer vision, natural language processing (NLP), and reinforcement learning, for example — to better facilitate connections between people and applications.

As QIST matures, leaders must learn to discern quantum expertise of similar specificity. Ultimately, the ideal team is put together based on the unique mission of the agency or organization in question.

Develop upskilling initiatives and strategic partnerships

As we navigate this quantum talent shortage, leaders need to focus on two key efforts: upskilling efforts and strategic partnerships.

Further training may not be viable to produce quantum specialists without proper pre-existing skills, but it can prepare other subject experts to contribute to quantum problems. Effective upskilling initiatives focus on the foundational information mission experts need to identify quantum-relevant problems and deploy quantum solutions.

These initiatives should go hand in hand with internal networking: organizations should strive to train their workforce to recognize opportunities where quantum technology can have mission-critical impacts. As the goals and needs of the field continue to evolve, organizations need to build foresight into their strategy to ensure the teams they build are diverse and interdisciplinary enough to pivot as quantum’s application areas evolve.

This upskilling approach can be extrapolated to external partnerships. It is a challenge for any organization to attract and retain the diversity of quantum expertise they will likely need to fully optimize their use of the technology over time. Internal talent investments don’t make sense for every organization, and it may be helpful to consider external partners who understand the likely time horizon for realizing various quantum applications.

With the ability to pool quantum expertise, organizations will be better prepared to identify critical use cases and mission applications for QIST, both in the near and long term. In short, external partnerships enable organizations to maximize the benefits of QIST’s adoption potential without overextending their internal expertise.

Tying together Quantum with talent and technology in lockstep

While quantum technology will continue to evolve at its own pace, there must be a consistent, clear link between internal QIST research and how it will impact business goals. Organizations will need to stay grounded in their missions and communicate how their talent needs align with their priorities. CISOs, CTOs and other senior leaders must prepare today to leverage QIST as it scales to improve technology standards across sectors and industries.

QIST is not a quick fix. Rather, the many applications of quantum technology – current and future – represent progress in solving specific types of problems. Some applications have a longer timeline, while others require immediate attention.

For example, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is an advanced encryption approach that every government and commercial enterprise will soon need to adopt to ensure continued digital security.

With early support from trusted advisors and partners, leaders can identify which quantum skills match their mission-critical use cases and ensure access to the right talent.

Jordan Kenyon is a senior chief scientist at Booz Allen. JD Dulny is a director at Booz Allen.