Heptagon Capital’s Alex Gunz Joins Jill Malandrino on Nasdaq TradeTalks to Discuss QC Topics

It’s always good to get a different perspective on the emerging technology that is quantum computing (QC), something The Quantum Insider has been working on since its inception.

This week, Alex GunzFuture Trend Equity Fund Manager at Heptagon Capital, interviewed by Jill Malandrino, global markets reporter at Nasdaq at Nasdaq TradeTalks on the topic of quantum computing.

Author of Heptagon’s View From Above Monthly macro commentary and regular Future Trends thematic insights, Gunz brings detailed knowledge of the equity markets to provide insight into what is currently going on in the quantum computing market.

Very pleasant

“AI is very exciting right now, but I think to really get to the next level, we need to think about quantum computing,” said Gunz, answering Malandrino’s question about what kind of solutions quantum could provide. “And really, the excitement about quantum computing is about the fact that we can do things much faster and more efficiently in a quantum world. Think of it this way,” continues Gunz. “You go from the world of zeros and ones, which is classical computing, to a world where you can see every possible combination of zeros and ones. So when you think about the big problems that the world is trying to solve, things like how do we allocate scarce resources in the face of a growing global population, this is what quantum can solve.”

Gunz was then asked what has happened to quantum computing since 2017 when equity fund managers first became interested in the sector.

Rising Academic Papers

“A very large number,” Gunz announced. “There is massive legitimacy to this industry, and I’m just going to give you three pointers that really build on this number: One is to look at the large number of academic papers that have been published on quantum. Last year, the number was around 2400, double what it was a decade ago. Talk to companies and one in five today say they invest in quantum. Going back a decade, it was only about one percent. And actually, just go to the web and look at cloud computing environments and there will be quantum applications, quantum units that even you or I could potentially be experimenting with today.”

When asked whether companies are already leveraging quantum computing and whether they will replace traditional computers, Gunz’s answer is ‘no’, they won’t.

“I think you should see it as a compliment, just as AI is enabling workers to be more productive,” says Gunz. “Quantum can enable companies to be more productive. And yes, we saw an example happening today. You take a lot of different industries, whether it’s someone like Boeing in aerospace, whether it’s Daimler in automobiles, whether it’s businesses like JP Morgan and Goldman looking at trading optimization, the quantum is actually happening today.

Gunz also added that several billion dollars are being put into the market each year, adding that the consultancy’s report estimates that the market could reach a size of between $60 billion and $120 billion by the end of this decade.

“You have big players like IBM and Google doing things in the quantum space. You see the emergence of some pureplay companies like Arqit, D-Wave and so on, but none of them are really making money today,” said Gunz.

When asked about the startup scene, Gunz is upbeat:

It’s a really exciting and vibrant startup environment, not only in clear geographies like the US but also in the UK, in Israel, in Switzerland,” said Gunz. “And in some ways, if you take a step back,” continues Gunz, “you really need the entire computing architecture — or stack — to be rebuilt. We are talking here about hardware, about software, about programming languages. So really, you see the whole ecosystem being built or rebuilt, if you will, from the ground up.

To conclude the interview, Gunz provides his assessment of when we will officially be in the quantum computing era.

“That’s a great question and it really depends on who you ask,” he said. “I mean, my way of framing it and answering it is this: We’re probably at the peak of the AI ​​hype right now. Quantum takes place in the background, growing in importance every day, every week, every year. So, we can say that we are already in the Quantum Age. We just don’t know that yet.”

Featured image: Nasdaq TradeTalks