Quantum Computing in Practice: Where We Are, What Works, and What’s Next

Quantum computing is evolving rapidly—from theoretical promise to early practical applications. But what does that mean for software developers and architects today? This talk takes a grounded look at the current capabilities of quantum systems, the real limitations, and emerging hybrid approaches that combine quantum and classical computation.

We’ll explore:

• A technical overview of quantum computing principles (superposition, entanglement, gate vs. annealing models).
• The landscape of current quantum hardware and its challenges (scalability, noise, error correction).
• Use cases that are already delivering results, including logistics optimization and scheduling problems.
• The role of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms and where they outperform traditional methods.
• A concise walkthrough of a demo: solving a real-world combinatorial problem using a quantum annealer on AWS.

The session finishes on the implications of quantum computing for cybersecurity and the current state of post-quantum cryptography and how to get started implementing these protocols.

This talk is for tech professionals who want a realistic, technically informed view of quantum computing today—beyond the hype—with insights into how to experiment and get involved.