By Dr. Jagdish Bhandarkar, Partner and Chief Disruption Officer, Deloitte South Asia
Every major technology shift begins with the same argument: “It is not ready yet.”
We heard it with the cloud. We heard it with artificial intelligence. We heard it with blockchain. And now we are hearing it with quantum computing.
Quantum computers are still evolving. Large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum systems are not widely available. Many enterprise leaders assume quantum is something to monitor from a distance, revisit later, and act on only when hardware matures.
That may be a comfortable position. But it is not necessarily safe.
The biggest mistake is to view quantum as only a hardware story. Quantum is not just about powerful computers. It is also about the capabilities, risks, talent, ecosystems, standards, and business models forming now. By the time quantum is obvious, the advantage may belong to early movers.
This is especially true for quantum resilience.
Today, much of the digital world depends on cryptographic systems that protect financial transactions, identity systems, confidential communication, intellectual property, customer data, and critical infrastructure. In the future, sufficiently powerful quantum computers could challenge some of these systems. This does not mean organisations need to panic. But it does mean they need to prepare.
Cryptographic migration is not simple. Large enterprises have encryption embedded across applications, APIs, databases, cloud platforms, legacy systems, devices, vendor connections, and third-party services. Organisations may not even see where cryptography is used.
That is why the first step towards quantum resilience is not buying a quantum computer. It is building visibility.
Enterprises should ask basic yet powerful questions: Where is cryptography used? Which systems protect data that must stay confidential for years? Which vendors are part of the cryptographic chain? Which applications are hardest to migrate? Where are hidden dependencies?
These are not theoretical questions. Sensitive information stolen today could be decrypted when quantum matures. This ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ risk makes quantum resilience a boardroom issue, not just a technology concern.
But quantum readiness should not be limited to cybersecurity alone.
Enterprises should also start identifying business problems where quantum, quantum-inspired, or hybrid quantum-AI approaches could create value. Not every problem needs quantum. In fact, a mature quantum strategy begins with knowing where quantum is not required.
The areas that deserve attention are problems involving extreme complexity: optimisation, simulation, risk modelling, portfolio analysis, logistics, materials discovery, drug discovery, and certain forms of machine learning. These are problems where traditional computing approaches can become expensive, slow, or limited as complexity increases.
In banking, quantum means robust risk simulations or better portfolio optimisation. In manufacturing, it means efficient production scheduling. In pharma, it means faster molecular exploration. In energy, it means grid optimisation. In retail and FMCG, it means sharper demand forecasting, route optimisation, and inventory planning.
Enterprises do not need perfect quantum hardware to start learning. Hybrid models, quantum-inspired algorithms, cloud-based quantum access, and research collaborations let organisations experiment in controlled, low-risk ways.
Early value is not always an immediate business transformation. Sometimes, the value is learning. In deep technology shifts, learning compounds.
Organisations that start today will see which use cases are real, which are hype, which vendors have credible capabilities, which teams need training, and which technology stacks need redesign. Organisations that wait may have to build all of this at once while the market moves ahead.
This is where talent becomes critical.
A quantum-ready enterprise does not need hundreds of quantum physicists. It needs a small, focused quantum-literate team. This team should include technology leaders, cybersecurity specialists, data scientists, architects, domain experts, and risk leaders. Their job is not to chase quantum as a science project, but to translate quantum possibilities into business priorities.
They must separate the signal from the noise. They must know when to experiment, partner, wait, and scale. This judgment does not develop overnight. It comes from exposure, pilots, ecosystem participation, and repeated learning cycles.
The cost of delay is therefore very real.
Late movers may miss early use cases. They may also miss partnerships with research institutions, start-ups, and global quantum ecosystems. They may struggle to attract talent. They may lack the confidence to evaluate vendors. They may find their cryptographic systems are complex, fragmented, and hard to migrate.
The better approach is to de-risk quantum adoption through small, structured steps.
Enterprises can start with a quantum-readiness assessment. They can identify high-value use cases. They can run pilots with academic institutions, start-ups, and partners. They can compare classical, quantum-inspired, and hybrid approaches. They can create governance models that keep experimentation disciplined and measurable.
This is not about making a reckless bet on an uncertain future. It is about building optionality.
India has a strong opportunity at this moment. With national focus on quantum technologies, deep academic capability, a growing start-up ecosystem, and strong enterprise demand, India can become more than a consumer of quantum innovation. It can become a serious contributor to practical quantum adoption.
Enterprises must act now and become early participants, investing in quantum preparedness and engagement before the opportunity passes.
Quantum will not arrive as a single dramatic event. It will arrive gradually through standards, pilots, tools, platforms, algorithms, talent, and ecosystems. Hardware will improve. Security expectations will change. Business use cases will mature. The organisations that begin now will not be guessing when that moment comes. They will be ready.
Quantum resilience is not about predicting the exact date when quantum becomes mainstream.
The key takeaway: Start building quantum resilience now, so your enterprise is primed when quantum becomes mainstream.