Investments, Generative AI, Skills Gap Shape Quantum in 2024

Among the industry predictions for quantum computing in 2024 is a general agreement that while there will be significant progress in infrastructure and use cases, it will not yet reach a level of maturity to break through to the mainstream.

While hardware will continue to diversify, particular technologies may begin to stand out by demonstrating benefits in specific use cases. Patents and investments are likely to continue growing and companies will begin to look at their talent plans to ensure they have the right quantum skills on board.  

In December, PwC’s Scott Likens discussed the significance of quantum computing appearing on the “essential eight” list of technologies to watch in 2024, a result of the company’s emerging technology survey.

Here Likens offers his predictions for quantum computing in 2024, including investment, hardware and how to meet the challenge of the pending quantum skills gap.

PwC global AI and innovation technology lead Scott Likens

We'll continue to see more public investment, with clients talking about doing something publicly. Predicting breakthroughs on the physical side is harder to say as we'll continue to see so many different techniques of how to do quantum computing. Maybe we need to narrow that in focus.

Related:New Qubit Paradigms, QAAS, Improved Fidelity: Quantum Hardware in 2024

I don’t think we’ll see quantum computing going mainstream in 2024, but it will get closer to being top of mind, with people at the executive level thinking about it, which I’m beginning to see already. This is not a one-year breakthrough – we may be shocked, but I think it’s still going to take years to start to see value creation from it, starting in small areas.

Patents are going up, investments are going up so it's a self-fulfilling. If we ride the wave of providing value to something like generative AI, we can keep the investment tied to that.

Organizations need to start looking at their talent plan now. There aren’t enough people out there in the job market that can do this work, this is a very bespoke skill. They need to be planning for how to keep that team together because we will have ups and downs.

A one-year investment doesn't mean much; you have to have a multi-year investment because your talent and workforce are so important. Also, think about how to make the right partnerships either with academia or the hardware vendors.

It also needs to be wrapped responsibly. We have to think about what we're doing here responsibly because it is such a different world, that we're dipping our toe into.