April 30, 2026
Preparing for a new era of quantum
K. King
All article images – credit: IBM
Quantum technology is evolving, and technology companies, like IBM, are devoting significant resources towards advancing quantum technologies, spurring a new era of quantum research and development.
Last fall, IBM shared an announcement outlining their plan to reach quantum advantage, “the point at which a quantum computer can solve a problem better than all classical-only methods.” This included the unveiling of IBM Quantum Nighthawk – described as “its most advanced quantum processor yet” with 120-qubits. It is designed for high coherence and complex circuit compilation, featuring 218 next-generation tunable couplers in a square lattice – a 20% increase over the previous IBM Heron processor, enabling circuits with 30% more complexity while maintaining low error rates. Currently, Nighthawk can execute up to 5,000 two-qubit gates, with a roadmap to execute 7,500 by the end of the year and projected to reach 15,000 by 2028 with more than 1,000 connected qubits.
Often, when we read about the evolution of quantum computers and the anticipated applications they could have, it feels so futuristic that we won’t need to think about the potential impact on our daily lives just yet. From optimization, to fraud detection, to drug discoveries, there are vast possibilities for quantum computing applications. IBM’s announcement outlines a roadmap to reaching quantum advantage for specific benchmarks by the end of 2026 and realizing fault tolerant quantum computing by 2029, demonstrating that quantum computers are being built now. This means that the far off future isn’t so far off anymore; quantum computers are here.
While they are real and functional, they are not yet outperforming classical methods for real-world commercial problems. Quantum computers are at the stage classical computers were in the 1950s. However, they are advancing rapidly. A quantum computer achieving quantum advantage is a significant milestone towards “Q-Day”, when a quantum computer will be potentially powerful enough to break current public key encryption for online banking and transactions.
Marco Armenta, quantum computing researcher at Institut Quantique, Université de Sherbrooke and Qubo Consulting, suggests that there is still some time before “Q-Day” will be reached: “Running Shor’s algorithm to break RSA-2048 would require approximately 4,000 logical qubits, which translates to roughly 4 million physical qubits with current error correction methods — a gap of over 33,000× from Nighthawk’s 120 qubits. Even with IBM’s fault-tolerance roadmap reaching fruition by 2029, credible estimates place Q-Day at least a decade beyond that. This does not diminish the urgency, though, as encrypted data harvested today could be decrypted retroactively once such machines exist, which is why cryptographic preparedness matters now.”
With the ability to break current public key encryption also comes the ability to protect it through quantum cryptography. For example, with Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) two parties exchange secret keys to secure information and any attempt to intercept or eavesdrop on the exchange of information is detected. Quantum threat also introduces quantum opportunity, and this is why businesses and organizations need to prepare for and understand both the risks and advantages of quantum technologies.
Advancements in quantum computing don't happen in isolation; a whole quantum ecosystem is required including research institutions, investors, hardware providers, software developers, and the talent to drive quantum computing forward, discover applications and find efficiencies using quantum technologies. IBM’s announcement illustrates the quantum ecosystem in action, where Nighthawk as a hardware advancement depends on breakthroughs in classical error-correction decoding, software, manufacturing and algorithmic research.
The infrastructure for a quantum future is being built now, and understanding it is no longer optional. Businesses need quantum talent to successfully navigate an economy where quantum computers exist. Quantum talent is required now, not just in the future after quantum advantage is reached. Qubo Consulting plays a key contributing role in the quantum ecosystem by upskilling and equipping today’s industry players with quantum knowledge.
The speed at which quantum technologies are advancing, like we see with IBM’s efforts including Nighthawk and its other quantum processors, indicates that the field is making engineering progress with tangible, concrete milestones. While the timeline and scope of practical quantum advantage remains uncertain, it’s not a matter of if, it’s only a matter of when quantum advantage is reached. Organizations prepared to ride the upcoming waves of quantum computing advancements will be ready to act when the technology matures, and to defend against quantum threats in the meantime.