Interview | Christopher Savoie, Founder & CEO, Zapata Computing

We caught up with Christopher Savoie, Founder & CEO, Zapata Computing to get his thoughts on the biggest challenges facing the adoption of Quantum technology in 2021 and what technology infrastructure building blocks are required to begin a Quantum computing or secure communications proof of concept.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the adoption of Quantum technology in 2021?

I believe the quantum hardware “waiting game” is hindering progress and creating a severe roadblock for many organizations. Frankly, once quantum computing takes off, I believe it will be hard for the bystanders to catch up. We can’t afford to wait for the devices to mature and THEN scramble to figure out how to use them within an organization’s complex, fragmented architectures of data and compute. So, really, when it comes to adopting quantum technology, a major challenge is that production infrastructure and architectures are not a focal point. Quantum-enabled solutions cannot and should not live in a separate entity from the rest of the organization and apart from the rest of one’s classical compute systems—and until we address this, we will not realize business impact.

Can you share an example of how your platform or application has been used by a new customer? Feel free to include any feedback or practical examples.

Our workflow management platform Orquestra allows companies to develop quantum algorithms independent of the specific constraints of particular hardware architectures. By abstracting from the hardware itself, we can make existing quantum software compatible with devices that will become available in the future – it’s forward compatible. This means that even though we are in the midst of an ongoing quantum technology evolution, we can begin addressing customers challenges today. Challenges that encompass supply chain and logistics. We are for example working with Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc. to help them optimize their deliveries servicing approximately 700,000 vending machines.

What technology infrastructure building blocks are required to begin a Quantum computing or secure communications proof of concept?

The role of classical compute alongside quantum in a performant solution is critical. Without performant classical systems, we will undo any quantum speedup we can achieve. Without the proper infrastructure and performant quantum-classical approach, impact will not be realized even if you have the right quantum algorithm and use case. So, in the near-term, Zapata is building fully integrated quantum-classical applications delivered as production solutions. Then, when increasingly capable quantum devices come online, deployment architectures will already be in place to plug in the newest machines. This also means that, in the next 12-18 months, we’re not focused on POCs; with the majority of our customers, we are building pilots toward production where the classical portions of a solution are equally important to the quantum portions.

What are you most looking forward to at the Quantum.Tech digital event?

There are many sessions I’m looking forward to at the Quantum.Tech event but especially the panels on industry adoption on Day 2 is a must watch for me. I also look forward to the receiving questions from the audience during my own panel session: “The Quantum-Classical Architecture: Your Roadmap to Advantage”. We are trying to provoke thinking about the role production systems play for our ability to achieve quantum advantage, and I’m very curious to hear the audience perspective on this topic.