Guy Diedrich, Senior Vice President and Global Innovation Officer at Cisco.
If artificial intelligence (AI) is the defining technology of this decade, quantum computing is undoubtedly the face of the next one. But the most important story is not what each innovation does alone, but what happens when they converge.
Quantum will accelerate the pace of AI, and AI will optimize quantum. It is a two-way street, and the stakes are massive. We can unlock problems once considered unsolvable, but we also risk exposing critical systems to vulnerabilities the world is not yet prepared to defend against.
This convergence is happening right now. We are looking at a global GDP increase of approximately $56 trillion over the next five years, powered by advances in AI, quantum and other technologies. Capturing that opportunity, while managing its risks, will require institutions to strengthen their technology and people in equal measure.
The Greatest Opportunity
AI is already reshaping industries. Across every sector, AI is delivering capabilities that augment what any one person can do alone.
Healthcare offers one of the best illustrations. Take something as familiar as a radiologist reviewing a scan. The technology brings speed and pattern recognition. The clinician brings judgment and contextual reasoning. Together, they produce outcomes neither could achieve alone, yet both are constrained by the limits of classical computing.
Quantum changes that equation. Where AI helps a radiologist see more clearly within existing diagnostic frameworks, quantum is going to rewrite those frameworks entirely. We are looking at a future where a patient’s complete biology is modeled as a digital twin, a dynamic representation of their genetics and physiology, to predict immune responses and simulate treatments before a single intervention is ever made. AI makes elements of this possible today, but within limits. Quantum, at sufficient scale, will remove those limits. At Cisco, we are working on a project with Helmholtz Munich, one of the world’s leading biomedical research institutions, to deploy the AI-ready infrastructure needed to make this vision of personalized medicine a reality.
The Greatest Risk
If the potential is tremendous, then the obligation to deploy it responsibly is just as great. As the world embeds AI into everything, the same innovation that makes systems more capable also makes them more vulnerable. The data confirms it. 87% of cyber leaders surveyed identified AI-related vulnerabilities as the fastest-growing cyber risk of the past year.
Healthcare illustrates that vulnerability with particular clarity. AI now manages and interprets vast volumes of patient data across clinical networks and connected devices. While that connectivity is creating better patient outcomes, it also concentrates sensitive, high-value data, making it one of the most targeted sectors on the planet.
Quantum is already entering that conversation as the next amplifying force. Today, medical encryption holds because breaking it would take a classical computer thousands of years. Quantum computers will eliminate that barrier. We are already seeing the consequences take shape. Security researchers call it “harvest now, decrypt later.” Adversaries are collecting encrypted data today, envisioning they will have the keys to unlock it tomorrow. The target goes far beyond patient records to proprietary research pipelines, genomic databases and the foundational datasets that AI clinical systems were trained on. What is at risk is not a single vulnerability, but the entire digital infrastructure of present-day healthcare.
Building For The AI And Quantum Future
Most organizations are deeply focused on AI adoption, and that focus is entirely justified. But quantum isn’t waiting for organizations to finish figuring out AI first. It’s arriving alongside it. Most people are thinking AI-first. We should be thinking agile-first, for AI and for everything that comes after it.
When we talk about the technology itself, most of the quantum conversations center on Q-Day. That is the moment when current encryption becomes obsolete, with some projections putting it as little as three to five years away. But there is a much closer deadline that some are calling R-Day. That is the day when regulators start requiring evidence of quantum readiness. That date will arrive first, and it gives organizations a far more immediate and clear target to build toward.
We are already seeing movement in this direction. The U.S. recently announced an executive order with quantum-focused directives. While the order does not impose new regulatory requirements directly, it signals that quantum preparedness is shifting from a long-term research priority to a short-term operational focus.
The human imperative is equally urgent. The World Economic Forum projects 1.1 billion jobs will be radically transformed by technology over the next decade, with technical skills in AI, cybersecurity and networks growing faster than any other category by 2030. New roles are already taking shape, such as AI workflow specialists and quantum translators who connect technology to real-world systems and applications. The transformation can be a net positive, but only if people are prepared. Most are not.
The foundation for an AI and quantum future must be designed now. It means building quantum-safe infrastructure today, while developing the institutional agility to move at the speed innovation demands. Technology and people have to advance together, from the start.
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