In the vast landscape of technological innovation, few frontiers are as surprising—or as complex—as they are quantum computing. At the forefront of this revolution is IBM, the company with the largest number of quantum machines in the world.
Jay GambettaIBM fellow and VP of IBM Quantum, is one of the experts at the helm of the ambitious effort to build the most advanced. quantum computer.“We have been working on our own quantum for a long time. In fact, IBM started from the early creation of quantum information,” explains Gambetta.
The journey began in earnest in 2016 when IBM put its quantum computer in the cloud, making it accessible to researchers and enthusiasts around the world. Since then, the company has built more than 70 quantum computers, with about 20 continuously available through cloud access. The impact is significant: users have opened about 3.2 trillion quantum circuits, which have produced about 3,000 scientific papers, Gambetta said.
This is not your ordinary computer. Gambetta describes them as superconducting qubit-based machines that operate at temperatures “a thousand times colder than space.” The latest quantum chips to be trusted have about 100 qubits and can perform up to 15,000 quantum gates—operations that manipulate qubits.
But the hardware is only part of the story. The real challenge, according to Gambetta, lies in making this powerful machine useful and accessible. “How do you make it easier to use? How do you make software? How do you make it mix classical and quantum together?
The future, as Gambetta sees it, is not about quantum replacing classical computing. Instead, he envisions a world where “bits, neurons, and qubits” work in concert, with CPUs, GPUs, and QPUs (quantum processing units) as integrated systems.
This vision has taken shape. IBM has built its first quantum data center in the US, with a second underway in Europe. They have also installed systems in local data centers in Japan, Canada, Spain, and at the Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit academic medical center in the US, with plans for one in South Korea and a second installation in Japan.
However, the path to widespread adoption is fraught with challenges. “It’s the first time the real computing model has changed,” notes Gambetta. This paradigm shift means that basic mathematical operations are also different in the quantum realm.
“How do you debug a quantum computer? Even answering that question is a very difficult technical challenge because you cannot go into the middle of quantum computing and stop, because you will kill all quantum coherence (qubits are sensitive and can be easily removed).
To solve this gap, IBM was created Little, an open-source quantum computing framework. It is the bedrock for quantum education and development, with India being the second largest user base globally.
As quantum computing inches closer to practical applications, the need for skilled professionals increases. Gambetta emphasized the importance of a combination of mathematical prowess and coding skills. “We are at a stage where we are actually rewriting how computing is done,” he said, underscoring the unique opportunity this presents for prospective quantum engineers.
Looking ahead, Gambetta said IBM’s roadmap aims for a quantum error-correcting machine by 2029, a milestone that will allow quantum computing involving hundreds of qubits and billions of gates. However, Gambetta is quick to point out that the timeline for industry-wide adoption remains uncertain. “The uncertainty when this will have a huge inflection in the industry depends on when the calculus is discovered,” he explained.
The person who discovers the algorithm will start his own company, Gambetta added. “This is happening in the world of classical computing.”
In India, IBM’s quantum team has been actively collaborating with academic institutions and government bodies, contributing to the national quantum mission. “The biggest thing is the ecosystem work we’ve done,” Gambetta said, citing the importance of bringing academia, industry, and government together to develop quantum technology.
As the quantum computing landscape continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the race is on to adopt this transformative technology. With IBM at the fore, the quantum future may be closer than we think — a future where the impossible becomes routine, transforming industries and pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.
Jay GambettaIBM fellow and VP of IBM Quantum, is one of the experts at the helm of the ambitious effort to build the most advanced. quantum computer.“We have been working on our own quantum for a long time. In fact, IBM started from the early creation of quantum information,” explains Gambetta.
The journey began in earnest in 2016 when IBM put its quantum computer in the cloud, making it accessible to researchers and enthusiasts around the world. Since then, the company has built more than 70 quantum computers, with about 20 continuously available through cloud access. The impact is significant: users have opened about 3.2 trillion quantum circuits, which have produced about 3,000 scientific papers, Gambetta said.
This is not your ordinary computer. Gambetta describes them as superconducting qubit-based machines that operate at temperatures “a thousand times colder than space.” The latest quantum chips to be trusted have about 100 qubits and can perform up to 15,000 quantum gates—operations that manipulate qubits.
But the hardware is only part of the story. The real challenge, according to Gambetta, lies in making this powerful machine useful and accessible. “How do you make it easier to use? How do you make software? How do you make it mix classical and quantum together?
The future, as Gambetta sees it, is not about quantum replacing classical computing. Instead, he envisions a world where “bits, neurons, and qubits” work in concert, with CPUs, GPUs, and QPUs (quantum processing units) as integrated systems.
This vision has taken shape. IBM has built its first quantum data center in the US, with a second underway in Europe. They have also installed systems in local data centers in Japan, Canada, Spain, and at the Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit academic medical center in the US, with plans for one in South Korea and a second installation in Japan.
However, the path to widespread adoption is fraught with challenges. “It’s the first time the real computing model has changed,” notes Gambetta. This paradigm shift means that basic mathematical operations are also different in the quantum realm.
“How do you debug a quantum computer? Even answering that question is a very difficult technical challenge because you cannot go into the middle of quantum computing and stop, because you will kill all quantum coherence (qubits are sensitive and can be easily removed).
To solve this gap, IBM was created Little, an open-source quantum computing framework. It is the bedrock for quantum education and development, with India being the second largest user base globally.
As quantum computing inches closer to practical applications, the need for skilled professionals increases. Gambetta emphasized the importance of a combination of mathematical prowess and coding skills. “We are at a stage where we are actually rewriting how computing is done,” he said, underscoring the unique opportunity this presents for prospective quantum engineers.
Looking ahead, Gambetta said IBM’s roadmap aims for a quantum error-correcting machine by 2029, a milestone that will allow quantum computing involving hundreds of qubits and billions of gates. However, Gambetta is quick to point out that the timeline for industry-wide adoption remains uncertain. “The uncertainty when this will have a huge inflection in the industry depends on when the calculus is discovered,” he explained.
The person who discovers the algorithm will start his own company, Gambetta added. “This is happening in the world of classical computing.”
In India, IBM’s quantum team has been actively collaborating with academic institutions and government bodies, contributing to the national quantum mission. “The biggest thing is the ecosystem work we’ve done,” Gambetta said, citing the importance of bringing academia, industry, and government together to develop quantum technology.
As the quantum computing landscape continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the race is on to adopt this transformative technology. With IBM at the fore, the quantum future may be closer than we think — a future where the impossible becomes routine, transforming industries and pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.
