Quantum simulation, quantum linear algebra for AI and machine learning, quantum optimization and search, and quantum factorization are the four most well-known application cases.
I go through them in detail in this paper, as well as issues leaders should think about when evaluating prospective use cases.
I concentrate on prospective applications in a few areas that, according to studies, might profit the most in the near term from the technology: medicines, chemicals, automotive, and finance.
The total value at risk for these sectors might be between $300 billion and $700 billion (to be cautious).
Chemicals
Chemicals may benefit from quantum computing for R&D, manufacturing, and supply-chain optimization.
- Consider how quantum computing may be utilized to enhance catalyst designs in the manufacturing process.
- New and improved catalysts, for example, could allow existing production processes to save energy—a single catalyst can increase efficiency by up to 15%—and innovative catalysts could allow for the replacement of petrochemicals with more sustainable feedstocks or the breakdown of carbon for CO2 usage.
A realistic 5 to 10% efficiency boost in the chemicals sector, which spends $800 billion on production each year (half of which depends on catalysis), would result in a $20 billion to $40 billion gain in value.
Pharmaceuticals
Quantum computing has the potential to improve the biopharmaceutical industry's research and development of molecular structures, as well as providing value in manufacturing and farther down the value chain.
- New medications, for example, cost an average of $2 billion and take more than 10 years to reach the market once they are discovered in R&D.
- Quantum computing has the potential to make R&D more quicker, more focused, and accurate by reducing the reliance on trial and error in target identification, drug design, and toxicity assessment.
- A shorter R&D timetable might help deliver medications to the correct patients sooner and more efficiently—in other words, it would enhance the quality of life of more people.
- Quantum computing might also improve production, logistics, and the supply chain.
While it's difficult to predict how much revenue or patient impact such advancements will have, in a $1.5 trillion industry with average EBIT margins of 16 percent (by our calculations), even a 1 to 5% revenue increase would result in $15 billion to $75 billion in additional revenue and $2 billion to $12 billion in EBIT.
Finance
Quantum-computing applications in banking remain a ways off, and the benefits of any short-term applications are speculative.
- However, I feel that portfolio and risk management are the most potential applications of quantum computing in finance.
- Quantum-optimized loan portfolios that concentrate on collateral, for example, might let lenders to enhance their services by decreasing interest rates and freeing up money.
Although it is too early—and complicated—to evaluate the value potential of quantum computing–enhanced collateral management, the worldwide loan industry is estimated to be $6.9 trillion in 2021, implying that quantum optimization might have a substantial influence.
Automobiles
Quantum computing can help the automotive sector with R&D, product design, supply-chain management, manufacturing, mobility, and traffic management.
- By improving features such as route planning in complicated multirobot processes (the path a robot travels to perform a job), such as welding, gluing, and painting, the technology might, for example, reduce manufacturing process–related costs and cut cycle times.
Even a 2% to 5% increase in efficiency might provide $10 billion to $25 billion in annual value in an industry that spends $500 billion on manufacturing expenditures.
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
You may also want to read more about Quantum Computing here.
