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Quantum Shift: What Business Leaders Need to Know About Quantum Computing
8 Plays1 month ago
In this solo episode of The Profectory Podcast, host Manny Teran breaks down the coming wave of quantum computing and why entrepreneurs and business leaders can’t afford to ignore it. While the technology may sound complex or futuristic, its impact is very real—and closer than you might think.
Manny starts by simplifying what quantum computing actually is, explaining how it differs from classical computing and why its problem-solving power is exponentially greater. He explores how industries like finance, healthcare, logistics, cybersecurity, and AI will be fundamentally transformed by this leap in processing capability.
But this episode isn’t just about tech—it’s about leadership mindset. Manny draws from Stoic philosophy to highlight the importance of preparation over prediction, and why the most successful leaders are those who are mentally prepared to adapt, think long-term, and act with clarity.
He shares practical advice on how business owners can begin preparing now: from tracking trends and identifying emerging use cases, to asking hard questions about how your business might operate in a post-quantum world. The message is clear—those who embrace curiosity and strategic foresight today will lead tomorrow.
This episode challenges you to think beyond the day-to-day grind and consider how you’re positioning yourself, your mindset, and your business for what’s next.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
The Profectory Podcast, Mastering the Mind and Market. Hosted by Manny Turan, we explore what it takes to succeed, both in business and within yourself.
00:00:15
Speaker
From strategy and business growth to mindset and resilience, we provide the tools to lead with clarity, confidence, and wisdom.
What is Quantum Computing?
00:00:33
Speaker
Quantum shift, what business leaders need to know about the future of quantum computing. On today's podcast, we will discuss this crazy science fiction-like technology called quantum computing.
00:00:48
Speaker
and really understand that the question isn't just if it will change the world, it's about how it will change yours. Now obviously this mind boggling how this stuff all works.
00:01:03
Speaker
I'm gonna break it down at a third grade level of how computers work and how quantum computers work But what's the most important part of this is what it can do for the world, industry.
00:01:16
Speaker
There's obviously a lot of fear surrounding quantum computing and AI, and there always is. Every time there's a big disruption, every time, whether it's the telegraph or if it's the telephone or the radio or TV or the internet or the integrated circuit or putting people in space, there's always this element of fear of whether or not this is the end or this is when the the Terminators rise up or whatever.
Preparing for Quantum Disruption
00:01:41
Speaker
And the point of it is it's coming no matter what. It is here, it's on its way, and if you want to capitalize on it, if you want to get in front of it, ride the wave, the idea here is to learn more about it and and take that fear away from the conversation.
00:01:58
Speaker
Obviously, ah fear is a very much a part of being human. And part of being a ah stoic type entrepreneur and business leader is realizing that the obstacle is the way, right? there that That fear is is just pointing you in the direction of where you should go.
00:02:18
Speaker
And certainly quantum computing is something that is radically changing the way that we will do business. I just got back from the American Physical Society. physics It's a physics show in Anaheim called APS.
00:02:32
Speaker
And in this show, the name of the game to talk about town was quantum computing. There was 15, almost 16,000 people there, 1,000 exhibitors.
00:02:45
Speaker
And you can imagine the amount of gravitas and what was being talked about there. there was like The big players were like IBM and Microsoft had a booth. And there was people from Google walking around. And so those players. But there's other players that are lesser known, company like Blue Force, a company like Maybell.
00:03:07
Speaker
One called Zero Point Cryogenics, of which I hope to get the CEO on the podcast here shortly. And this whole idea of quantum um computing, is founded on the idea of quantum mechanics, which is something that is hard for most people to understand. I mean, physics for that matter is hard for most people to understand.
00:03:25
Speaker
So let me start off by breaking down how a quantum computing works at a third grade level.
Quantum Mechanics and Computing Basics
00:03:31
Speaker
And then we'll talk about how it can solve these major problems. we We'll then talk about how how and why entrepreneur should learn about this and why you should care.
00:03:42
Speaker
And then we'll discuss some of the mindset shift required to wrap our 200,000-year-old operating system here, our brains, around this whole thing.
00:03:54
Speaker
Some things about how we what you can do now. And sort of finish off with a final reflection that is going to be important to wrap it all up and give you some actionable things to consider.
00:04:08
Speaker
All right. First thing. What is quantum computing? So let's start off with the idea of these classical computers like when I'm operating this right in front of me now, or if you've got one at home or in your pocket, essentially. The way they operate is on a one or a zero.
00:04:27
Speaker
This is called binary, right? Either you can have an on state or an off state. And if you're using heads or tails, it can either be a head or a tail. And the way the computer processes work and the computer chips and silicon and so forth is you lay this map down on top of the silicon and it'll give you um basically a roadmap for the program you're running, whether it's operating a garage door or it's executing Minecraft.
00:04:57
Speaker
They each have their own levels of this sort of thing. But in the end, they're all ones and zeros. The higher up you go, the the more levels of abstraction and the easier for us to wrap our mind around. So at fundamentally, one and zeros, as you go higher, you start getting to a assembly language, start going into C, C++, plus plus Python, some of these higher level languages.
00:05:19
Speaker
And then, of course, now there are these ah no code or low code situations, and you can even have AI write code for you. So there's all that process, and here we are.
00:05:31
Speaker
Quantum computing is at the baby stage right now. We're talking about nascent stage. Even though there's all these big players, universities, you name all of the big boys, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, they're all working on this.
00:05:46
Speaker
ah National labs, um big, big giant corporations all have a stake in some levels if they're tech companies. or financial companies, because certainly ah the the revolution has already started.
00:05:59
Speaker
It's just the groundswell, very, very, very, very ground level. So quantum computers work on a different
Quantum Computing Principles Explained
00:06:07
Speaker
way. So if you think about that example I used earlier of the heads or the tails,
00:06:13
Speaker
The way that quantum computers work is there's a third one and that is actually both. So if you hold a quarter in your hand, it's a head or a tail, but if you spin it in the air, it can it's kind of both at the same time.
00:06:27
Speaker
So that's one piece of the way that quantum computers work is they're able to do things in that sort of that middle state that allows them to do more parallel processing in a much easier way.
00:06:39
Speaker
And the other piece that's really important to understand is this idea of called quantum entanglement, where say we have two quarters and they're entangled together.
00:06:51
Speaker
That means i can, if one is heads, the other one is heads. If one is tails, the other one's tails. And if one is both, the other one's both. It's hard to understand that, but that's fundamentally the level of how they operate.
00:07:06
Speaker
And in order to do so, you have to have some pretty massive um hardware that is down to the but almost absolute zero.
Industry Impact and Complex Problem Solving
00:07:17
Speaker
So we're talking about 10, 20 Kelvin, milli 10 or 20 milli Kelvin is what it takes to be able to operate these processors. So you're likely not going to see one in your library or in your home or in your pocket anytime soon.
00:07:32
Speaker
likely the way they'll operate is you're gonna have these in data center type applications where you'll you'll send your operation to the data center, it'll do the process, and it'll give you results back. And the fact that they have this entanglement I mentioned earlier, the fact that they operate with these qubits, which is the the on, off, or both state, allow them to operate in ah parallel in a much easier fashion and solve pretty massive things very quickly.
00:08:00
Speaker
So let me make sure that I can get this. So I mentioned qubits versus bits, superposition, which is that one ah a B, or both, or heads or tails or both.
00:08:11
Speaker
ah There is this whole thing of they can actually solve problems explanationally faster. and Classical computers have a hard time with ah modeling nature, things like chemical reactions or the way that cancer operates or moves or the way that the climate is constantly changing. These are large, complex problems that take a long time to set up on computers, and then they have to render for sometimes weeks to do so.
00:08:40
Speaker
With a quantum computer, it can be done in minutes or seconds even. Kind of pretty massive. So ah quantum computing will really redefine lots of industries that that are sort of commonplace today.
00:08:56
Speaker
Things like finance, pharma, logistics, cybersecurity, material science. If you can put a quantum computer On a problem, on a material science problem, it can harness this parallel process. It can bring in tons of data and give you the result very quickly.
00:09:15
Speaker
And if you think about the way that AI today is has taken over the way that people write reports or write emails or even generate video, we're even at that stage at the baby stage. I read something the other day that in AI, we're currently at the amoeba stage.
00:09:34
Speaker
meaning single-celled animal, right? And we're just at that very nascent stage. As as time progresses, as more and more resources are put into this, we're gonna grow into you know a worm and maybe like a grasshopper level up until we're at the, you know, be beyond human level.
00:09:55
Speaker
Now that's of course where people get very, very scared. And the idea of AI um being sentient or having consciousness is always on people's minds. People freak out about that. There's countless movies about that.
00:10:11
Speaker
um and And certainly that's something that is always being looked after. if you look If you look online on social media on and on the news, there's always these conversations about that and that, oh, you know, they they unplugged when they had two AIs talking together and they created their own language and and it freaked people out.
The Role of Leadership in Technological Change
00:10:30
Speaker
Well, ultimately, these these are machines and and there's lot let to be lot left to learn about how they operate. But from a stoic leadership standpoint, we need to realize that as human beings, our time is limited on this earth and um individually.
00:10:51
Speaker
And there are lots of... There's lots of things in the stoic landscape, things like courage. um As a business leader, looking at these technologies out there, it takes a lot of courage to lean into them.
00:11:07
Speaker
As business leaders, it's important to understand that you need to be in front of this. And that means, first step is understanding it. And I'm not talking about going and taking a class in in particle physics here. I'm talking about understanding the implications of what are the problems that you're trying to solve that take too long, that are very difficult to solve, and how can you position those so when there is a quantum computer available to solve them, that you can figure out a way to give them those problems.
00:11:39
Speaker
On the Stoic side, um missing mentioned courage. There's wisdom. Certainly wisdom comes from experience, comes from our own personal, as well as as um experiences for of others.
00:11:53
Speaker
We take that all into play as we look at how this is gonna change the world. um If you marry quantum computers with AI, what can it do in that situation?
Quantum Computing's Global Problem-Solving Potential
00:12:04
Speaker
Is that when quote unquote consciousness will take place or will it then be able to solve ah pretty major problems like find the ah the cure for cancer?
00:12:13
Speaker
Hey ai this is the way the human body works. This is the map of the how the human body works to the best of our a ability. And there's this thing called a cancer that causes massive amounts of of disease and death.
00:12:29
Speaker
Here are all the world's resources on papers and metadata and and studies. Feed it all into this quantum computer, push a button, walk away, grab a cup of coffee, come back, have the answer.
00:12:45
Speaker
Now, just like in life, that may not be the answer, it may be a answer. You take that answer and you go and you give it a shot, you try it out, you do some some testing to it. So you can kind of see how these things start to become powerful and can have these pretty massive implications for life.
00:13:03
Speaker
For those that have been touched by cancer, for those that have been touched by weather, just imagine being able to ah to understand the weather in a way that you can find tornadoes that might occur um days before they do just by looking at these giant global patterns, right?
00:13:21
Speaker
That we don't have the ability today to understand. Logistics, finance, these are all places. Pharmaceuticals. being able to to tell the the AI or the the quantum computer, this is the way a cell operates.
00:13:34
Speaker
This is a diseased cell. This drug, we're having a hard time doing this certain thing with this drug. Here are all the papers, go find some solutions. And at the end of the day, it gives you a material science printout of what you need to do and develop so you can solve that problem.
00:13:51
Speaker
So these are the things we're talking about. ah Let me go back to why entrepreneurs should care. um The thing about, I mentioned earlier that it'll redefine these industries.
00:14:03
Speaker
Secondarily, early adopters will gain massive strategic advances, advantages. So if you are early in the game, if you're one of the prime movers, you're gonna have that advantage in ways that are even incomprehensible today.
00:14:20
Speaker
And that goes for um all these industries I mentioned. Thirdly, markets will be disrupted. that's That's going to happen. Entrepreneurs who adapt the fastest will win. And the way that the market is today, it changes very quickly.
00:14:37
Speaker
But in the world of a quantum computer, it'll change even more quickly. A company like Google, as as um foundational as they may seem, could be decimated in a matter of you know a year
Security and Encryption in the Quantum Era
00:14:52
Speaker
by another company that has the the best search engine out there.
00:14:58
Speaker
And you you talk to it and they'll give you the right answer immediately. Boom, Google has issues, goes downhill. And it's like these big giants from the past. Excuse me, like Sears.
00:15:09
Speaker
Nobody ever thought Sears would be gone. Or um you know Kodak. Kodak was once worth billions of dollars in today's numbers, and now it's worth $100 million. dollars you know Where did they go wrong? They even developed the digital camera.
00:15:25
Speaker
So all these things are they're just powerful lessons to learn, and you've got to get in front of it. And then... Something else about why entrepreneurs should care is that it will influence the way that AI works, um especially with data encryption.
00:15:42
Speaker
So right now, there's a lot of of talk about cybersecurity and encryption. and a some of these these quantum computer tools that are that are at least theorized to be able to be created would have the propensity to solve or even crack pretty major cyber issues in very short order.
00:16:05
Speaker
So this is gonna redefine the way that cybersecurity works as well. Something to keep in mind. Now, let me kind of shift into the way the mindset needs to to to really look at this.
00:16:18
Speaker
The mindset shift is really about control, and you really can't control when this arrives, right? You really can't control at all of whether Google or Stanford is doing a certain thing.
00:16:32
Speaker
It's all coming. But what you can control is how you prepare for it internally, internally, and externally with your team, with your organization, with your company. ah Externally, we've talked about that a second ago, how you can be in front of it, figure out what problems you can solve, figure out, keep your eye on the ball, subscribe to certain newsletters to so you're up um with the latest information. Those are all good things you can do on the outside. The inside, it's more about preparing and just living your life day by day.
00:17:04
Speaker
It sounds simplistic, But it's coming. You can't control it. It's just better to be at peace with it, which means you need to just live your life day by day. um there is is If you anticipate this wave coming before it comes, then it will when it does come, it won't be a surprise.
00:17:24
Speaker
and you know it's coming and you can't control it, so you might as well just live your life. And then you need to shift your your mind from being reactive to more having a scenario-based plan for when it does, okay?
00:17:37
Speaker
So you can't control it, you know it's coming, um you know that the wave is on its way, And when it does, i will react this way. So you can scenario plan that. And with your team, when we have a ah quantum computer available to us, these are the problems we're going to give to it. So these are all plans for when it happens.
00:17:58
Speaker
um And in a calm manner, right? This is not a situation where the sky's falling. We do have some time. So i've being able to anticipate and put that into play is very important.
00:18:09
Speaker
And then the other thing to consider is how can you cultivate a mindset of curiosity about it, of about adaptability about it, and long-term thinking?
00:18:22
Speaker
I think curiosity is a very, very, very powerful tool that as we get older, we lose it.
Curiosity and Adaptation in the Quantum Age
00:18:30
Speaker
If you look at a six-year-old plane,
00:18:33
Speaker
and you just watch them for a bit, there's a certain curiosity and a certain imagination about how they play or the questions they ask. They look at something that seems very simplistic and they look at it with awe and they don't understand it per se, but there's curiosity.
00:18:50
Speaker
As adults, we tend to lose our curiosity. We tend to get in this groove where um days become mundane or our jobs or our family life becomes mundane.
00:19:02
Speaker
And I think that curiosity element needs to be really cultivated and nourished. And that can be as as simple as if you do have a child in your life or a nephew or ah ah your own kids,
00:19:14
Speaker
Leaning into that curiosity, playing with them, um getting down on your hands and knees and actually playing with them. So that that in in itself is curiosity. Or what about reading certain books or certain texts or watching certain nature shows?
00:19:27
Speaker
All of that feeds curiosity. And I think curiosity is almost like a muscle. It is something that can atrophy, but can be very quickly revived. And how many people know somebody that is older in age, 60, 70, 80, 90, and has just has this sort of brightness about them if you notice that it's really based on curiosity, it's based on them wanting to know how you're doing and how your life is going, but a true genuine curiosity.
00:19:58
Speaker
And some people that are in their 20s and 30s and 40s that are already stodgy in their mentality and they're they're just not pleasant to be around, they've lost that spark. They've lost that curiosity.
00:20:10
Speaker
So that soic thinking is that curiosity is really, really important to consider and to keep in mind. All right, let's shift now to the the final couple things. um What can you do do now?
00:20:23
Speaker
So you can not necessarily do coding per se, but just understand the implications. I mentioned earlier, subscribing to certain content ah newsletters and other journals. I don't have any in mind, but I'll find some and I'll post them when I when i do.
00:20:39
Speaker
You can follow the big players. I mentioned earlier, IBM, Google, Microsoft, and some of the other ones. um There's Rigetti, there's Blue Force.
00:20:50
Speaker
These are all hardware manufacturers, but there's others that are doing more software and some of the other bigger systems in play. And if you have um something like access to,
00:21:02
Speaker
um Email newsletters or Google type alerts are really important. You can look at your own industry with the eye and mind of quantum computing. So for instance, if you're in logistics, how can quantum computing solve these big major issues that you're dealing with?
00:21:23
Speaker
and just kind of keep it in mind. And as you start watching things on the news or hearing about things on the news, you can then lean into that, of course. um You can build relationships with people in your industry.
00:21:36
Speaker
I'm certain that if it's not talked about today, it will be, using that logistics as an example. I bet there's somebody in that world that's already talking about I bet there's startups already that are looking about how can we solve these major logistical problems with quantum computing.
Everyday Applications and Business Strategies
00:21:54
Speaker
ah During my recent travels, I went to Seattle and I went to Anaheim over the past week. And there was major issues, especially on the way back from Seattle to Tucson. There was major issues with the computer when we were at the airport.
00:22:07
Speaker
And I just thought to myself, man, something like a quantum computer with AI sitting on top of it, could look at the problem that we're in. and I'm not talking about that just that that exact problem, but I'm talking about all the problems with with ah with traveling, feed it into this computer and come up with it with a much more efficient and effective way to get from point A to point B. And i just I'm excited for this world because of what it can do for our sort of everyday life.
00:22:37
Speaker
um you know Going up to the the ticket counter and trying to solve your problem And walking away with, again, we can't control that. So the guy before me, however, was not the same way. He got very upset. He was yelling and screaming.
00:22:51
Speaker
I get it. We can't control it. But wouldn't it be nice if we had a tool that could fix a lot of these problems? Something to keep in mind. And the last thing I'll say about what you can do about um what's coming with with quantum computing is just think about what it can do for your business in a post-quantum world.
00:23:08
Speaker
And this goes beyond just those alerts. This goes beyond just how you're going to feed it, those those problems you might have. Talk to somebody, just talk to one of your your colleagues and say, listen, I heard about this thing called quantum computing and how can it solve our issues? Why don't we set a a coffee date once a quarter to just sit down and see what we've heard about quantum computing?
00:23:31
Speaker
That in itself can really prove to to be very useful. And you can even do that for technology in general, not just quantum computing. ah Things like ah asynchronous vehicles or things like alternative fuels, what's happening with hydrogen.
00:23:46
Speaker
These are all conversations you can have with people on a quarterly basis. ah Very, very informal coffee talk is enough, but it'll keep your your mind looking at that ah part of your industry. So when it does unfold, you're right there to take advantage of it.
00:24:03
Speaker
And the last thing I'll say with respect with respect to all this is that the idea that quantum computing is the next frontier. And it's not just in tech, but it's also in leadership.
00:24:16
Speaker
It's about those leaders that are prepared to adapt to this ever-changing technology world and lean into it. You know, we can't control it. It's happening. It's on its way.
00:24:29
Speaker
Let's be curious about it. let's If we have problems, that's the solution, is through the problem, right through it, right? The obstacle is the way. um Think about what of the industries that are gonna be the most changed by quantum computing.
00:24:45
Speaker
If we, I keep on mentioning logistics, but it's it's something like the amount of processing power it takes Amazon to get the package from when you order it to your doorstep is pretty massive.
The Future of Quantum Computing and Industry Transformation
00:24:58
Speaker
And the ability to solve that in um in a much quicker fashion with less resources, Or if you're shipping something from point A to point B, there's all these external variables that come into play.
00:25:09
Speaker
How can you create a process to to make that more efficient? These are all problems that have solutions. And i believe that quantum computing can be part of that solution. And then some other things to to think about is to remain calm.
00:25:24
Speaker
As simple as it sounds, remain calm during all this. i I don't believe it it is a ah worthy of... of really being worried about or focusing too much on the negative side of it.
00:25:39
Speaker
These things are happening. you know The whole idea of being virtuous and using it for good, these are all things that are important in the business domain. There's so many possibilities with quantum computing.
00:25:51
Speaker
Get your mind around it, stay in front of it, and ultimately look inside yourself and realize that it's not going to... um it It's not something that's within your control.
00:26:03
Speaker
And the best thing you can control you can do is control yourself and control your um how you react to these things and set some time to speak with people on a quarterly basis.
00:26:13
Speaker
Keep your eyes out on these newsletters. ah Watch the news, watch podcasts. And I'm excited for this new technology that's going to be ah game changer and it will hopefully change and cure cancer.
00:26:26
Speaker
It'll solve lots of problems for us. And I'm excited for what it can do Thanks. thanks