Tennessee is Building the Quantum Ecosystem: Here’s What You Can Do Now
Your Board Is Wrong About Quantum
Most business leaders still think quantum computing is years away from mattering. The technology may be, but some of the business decisions are not. Interestingly, Tennessee is quickly becoming one of the places where those decisions will matter most.
What Is Quantum Computing?
A traditional computer checks possibilities one at a time, even if it does so billions of times a second. A quantum computer weighs an enormous number of them at once. For most of what runs your business such as email, spreadsheets and Slack & Teams chats, it is not helpful yet. But for a narrow, high-value set of problems, it collapses timelines from decades to just hours.
The technology is advancing. In late 2024, Google announced an important breakthrough with its Willow quantum chip: as the system grew, it was able to reduce errors rather than simply create more of them. IBM and others are making significant advances as well. None of this means a large-scale, dependable quantum computer is here today; it isn’t. But the question is increasingly shifting from whether quantum will become useful to when, and for which problems.
Why Quantum Matters Now
So why should a business leader care today? Risk and opportunity. Quantum computers could eventually break some of the encryption we rely on today to protect financial transactions, customer information and other sensitive data. Here’s the important part: the risk doesn’t begin when that quantum computer arrives. Someone can steal encrypted data today, store it and try to decrypt it years from now. If your company has information that needs to remain confidential for the next 5, 10 or 20 years, this matters now. A real quantum economy is beginning to form around talent, research, infrastructure and investment. Tennessee is emerging as an important part of it.
Quantum’s Future is Being Built in Tennessee
You might expect the center of America’s emerging quantum economy to be Silicon Valley, but something significant is happening much closer to home.
Last month, I had the opportunity to moderate a quantum panel at the Nashville Technology Council’s State of Tech with leaders from MTSU QRISE, Middle Tennessee Electric and IonQ. My biggest takeaway: Tennessee isn’t just talking about quantum. We’re starting to build the infrastructure, talent and businesses around it.
At the federal level, investment is accelerating. New federal actions are pushing both quantum computing development and the move toward quantum-safe encryption.
Tennessee is directly involved. Oak Ridge National Laboratory already has quantum hardware operating today and is home to one of the Department of Energy’s major quantum research efforts.
At the state level, Tennessee is putting real money behind the opportunity. The Tennessee Quantum Initiative includes $43 million to attract and grow quantum companies and create high-wage jobs. The state has also created a separate $3 million fund aimed at attracting federally backed quantum research teams. Some of it is actually operating, not just announced:
- Chattanooga: a commercial quantum computer (IonQ Forte Enterprise) live on EPB’s network, open to companies starting in October
- Oak Ridge: two quantum systems already installed and running at the national lab
- Knoxville: a named accelerator and a funded foundry site at UT’s Cherokee Farm research park
- Middle Tennessee: a funded university research pipeline (MTSU QRISE) and an active grid-analytics pilot with Middle Tennessee Electric
- Hamilton County classrooms: TN QuantumWorks is already teaching quantum concepts K–12, from light-and-pattern basics for younger students to security and hardware topics in high school
Put that together: national labs, state investment, private companies, universities and K–12 education all developing within one state. That’s what makes Tennessee’s position interesting. We aren’t betting on one company or one research project. An ecosystem is beginning to form.
Where Quantum Creates Value
Quantum won’t replace AI or today’s computers. The more likely future is that they work together, with each handling the problems it does best. For businesses, the most promising applications generally fall into two categories:
- Finding the best answer among millions of choices. Think delivery routes, investment portfolios, factory schedules or complex supply chains.
- Simulating things that are extremely difficult to model today. Think drug discovery, new materials and better batteries.
You don’t need to understand quantum physics to see why those capabilities could matter.
What Can You Do Now?
Quantum is a funded, fast-moving business event. A remarkable amount of it is happening in Tennessee, and it presents both an opportunity and a live risk to your data and AI strategy. So the practical question is: what should leaders do next week?
Here’s a few questions to ask at your next board or executive leadership meeting:
- Who owns quantum for our company?
You don’t need a quantum computing department. But someone should be responsible for understanding the risk, watching the opportunity and bringing important decisions to leadership. Without a named executive owner, quantum will remain everyone’s issue and no one’s responsibility. The technology is never the hard part. Vision, governance and people are. Quantum is just the newest proof.
- What data do we need to protect for the next 5-10+ years?
Start with your most sensitive information. Where is it stored? How is it encrypted? Which vendors have access to it? And what is the plan for moving to quantum-safe encryption? You can’t protect what you haven’t identified.
- Where could quantum create real business value?
Don’t start by looking for a reason to use quantum computing. Start with a hard business problem. Do you have a routing, scheduling, optimization or simulation problem where a dramatically better answer could change cost, speed or risk? That’s where experimentation should begin.
- Who should we be learning from?
Most companies aren’t going to build quantum capabilities themselves. They will access expertise through universities, technology companies, research institutions and other partners. For Tennessee businesses, many of those relationships can now be built in our own backyard.
Quantum computing may still be years away from changing the day-to-day operations of most companies. But waiting for that day to start paying attention is the wrong approach. The cybersecurity transition is already beginning. The investment is already happening. And here in Tennessee, an ecosystem is taking shape faster than most business leaders realize. You don’t need to become a quantum expert yet. But someone in your organization should be paying attention now.
Contributors
Brandon Sherman, Partner, Frazier & Deeter Advisory, LLC
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