Executive Summary

Quantum computing, once an esoteric scientific quest, is becoming an enterprise imperative. By 2035, it’s projected to add $1–2 trillion in value across industries, with a market valuation reaching $28–$72 billion and growth rates north of 65% CAGR. Adoption among Fortune 500s is at 12% but rapidly increasing, propelled by breakthroughs in qubit stability, surging public and private investments, and high-impact applications in finance, pharmaceuticals, supply chain, and sustainability. As governments commit unprecedented funding—$1.8 billion announced in 2024 alone—the next decade will see quantum shift from experimental pilots to core business advantage.

The stakes are clear: early movers can secure transformative productivity gains, operational excellence, and market-defining innovations.

Introduction: The Quantum Moment Arrives

In 2025, quantum computing is no longer a speculative future—it’s a strategic priority attracting Fortune 500 boardroom attention. With public and private investments eclipsing $44 billion globally, and start-up funding growing 50% year-over-year, quantum technology is at a tipping point. Eminent consulting houses predict trillion-dollar economic impacts within a decade, with four critical sectors—finance, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and mobility—poised for acceleration.

Market Context & Methodology

McKinsey’s annual Quantum Technology Monitor and allied industry reports provide the methodological backbone for market sizing and value projection. Estimates are constructed from proprietary analytics, expert interviews, public funding announcements, and validation across market databases. The methodology triangulates near-term revenue flows, technology maturation scenarios, and sector-specific adoption curves to present both conservative and optimistic growth trajectories.

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Problem Statement: Quantifying the Stakes

Quantum adoption directly addresses some of the most intractable business bottlenecks:

• Financial Services: Portfolio optimization and derivative pricing, potentially creating $622 billion in incremental value.
• Pharmaceuticals: Molecular simulations that slash drug discovery timelines and costs.
• Supply Chain: Large-scale optimizations for logistics, inventory, and scheduling—problems currently unsolvable with classical computers.
• National Security & Sustainability: Quantum encryption, advanced materials, and climate modeling.

Current penetration remains modest—just 12% of the Fortune 500, but recent surveys show 60% expect to have a quantum strategy in place by 2025. Inaction risks ceding ground to more agile competitors and missing compounding returns from early capability-building.

Data: McKinsey & Co.

Technical Deep Dive: The Quantum Advantage Explained

Classical vs. Quantum: While classical computers process bits as 0s or 1s, quantum systems use qubits, which embody 0 and 1 simultaneously (superposition), and influence each other instantaneously (entanglement). This enables the exploration of vast solution spaces in seconds—mission-critical for optimization, simulation, and cryptography tasks prohibitive for even the most advanced supercomputers.

Example: In portfolio optimization, a quantum computer can analyze millions of market variables and constraints real-time, generating solutions that maximize returns and minimize risk—capabilities classical algorithms hit a wall on, especially as market data grows.

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Evidence & Case Studies: Quantum in Action

• Financial Services: Banks piloting quantum algorithms report improved risk assessment accuracy and faster pricing for complex derivatives—unlocking new deal structures and market opportunities.
• Drug Discovery: Pharmaceutical leaders employing quantum simulations have identified promising compounds for antivirals in months rather than years, with early evidence of cost reductions exceeding 25%.
• Supply Chain Giants: Automotive firms use quantum-powered optimizers for logistics routing, achieving multi-million-dollar savings in fuel and time, as confirmed by real-world deployments.

India’s most notable quantum computer development is by the Bengaluru-based startup QpiAI. They launched QpiAI-Indus, India’s first full-stack 25-qubit superconducting quantum computer in April 2025. This system integrates advanced quantum hardware, scalable controls, and optimized software, designed for hybrid quantum-classical computing and applications in drug discovery, materials science, logistics, sustainability, and climate modeling.

QpiAI, founded in 2019, is one of the supported startups under India’s National Quantum Mission (NQM). It has filed 11 patents and is generating early revenue while expanding its global presence with offices in Finland and the US. The company is also raising significant funding to accelerate developing utility-scale quantum systems for global enterprises.

Additionally, Bengaluru is set to host India’s first AI-driven Quantum City under a ₹1,000-crore Karnataka Quantum Mission, aiming to establish a global quantum technology ecosystem with research labs, hardware parks, incubation centers, and quantum high-performance computing data centers.

In summary, QpiAI in Bengaluru is India’s pioneering company in quantum computing with the launch of the 25-qubit QpiAI-Indus system, supported by the National Quantum Mission and Karnataka’s Quantum City initiative, positioning India strongly in quantum technology innovation.

Sidebar: The ROI Equation

For every $1 invested in quantum-AI integration, SMEs report ROI of $3.70, thanks to differentiated predictive accuracy and resource allocation.

Economic Impact & Implications

Modeling Value Creation:

• The value unlocked is not merely in direct revenue. Quantum enables breakthrough productivity in industries representing over 20% of global GDP.
• Government funding ($1.8B in 2024 in the US alone) and targeted investments in Europe and Asia have ignited an R&D race that now encompasses supply chain IP, workforce pipelines, and allied technology stacks.

Forecast:

• By 2035, $28–72 billion in direct quantum computing market value with broader ecosystem revenues reaching $97–$100 billion.
• Extended projections push total impact to $200 billion by 2040, with trillion-dollar industry-wide value realized through cost reduction, accretive revenue, job creation, and startup formation.

Strategic Recommendations for the C-Suite

1. Start Today, Scale as You Learn: Full readiness takes 3–4 years. Prioritize quantum literacy, initial pilots in optimization/simulation, and partner with cloud quantum providers to de-risk capital outlays.
2. Build Ecosystems, Not Silos: Leverage government-academic consortia, and invest in cross-discipline teams.
3. Cybersecurity Upgrade: Prepare for “Q-Day”—the moment quantum computers break current encryption—by adopting quantum-safe cryptography standards.
4. Focus on ROI-Positive Use Cases: Target problems where quantum delivers compelling advantages over classical approaches—finance, materials, supply chain—before venturing into “moonshot” projects.

Future Outlook & Risks

Trends:

• Hybrid Compute Stacks: Expect quantum processors to become accelerators alongside CPUs/GPUs.
• Democratization: Quantum cloud access lowers entry barriers, opening the field to SMEs.
• Talent Race: Scarcity of skilled quantum engineers; early ecosystem builders can anchor industry leadership.

Risks:

• Immature Hardware: Most current machines are NISQ-era (Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum); error correction remains a challenge.
• Overhyped Timelines: True “quantum advantage” for production-scale tasks is still 5–10 years away.
• Vendor Lock-in: Open-source stacks (e.g., IBM’s Qiskit) and open standards are vital to maintain long-term flexibility.

Conclusion: Quantum is the Next S-Curve—The Time to Invest is Now

The era of speculation is giving way to measurable enterprise value. By building strategic quantum capabilities today—with a focus on core applications and robust ecosystems—executives position their organizations not just for cost savings, but for market-shaping leadership. Miss this wave, and the cost isn’t just lost productivity—it’s existential.

“Which core process in your enterprise is most bottlenecked by conventional computing, and how soon before your competitors leverage quantum to break through it?”

EVER-READY