Quantum computing insights from SAS Innovate 2024

The landscape of enterprise computing is evolving when it comes to artificial intelligence, particularly in the integration of quantum computing and its implications for solving complex problems across various sectors.

Industry leaders converged at SAS Innovate this week to discuss the technological advancements driving AI, business models, workflows and data utilization, including the cutting-edge advancements driving AI and quantum computing.

“I think with quantum computing, I think it’s going to take the same path as GPUs,” said Bryan Harris (pictured), chief technology officer of SAS Institute Inc. “Our ability to leverage quantum will be really the GPU for optimization problems. When we have problems that make sense for quantum, we’re going to leverage that to accelerate our compute just like GPU does.”

Harris spoke with theCUBE Research’s John Furrier, executive analyst, and Dave Vellante, chief analyst, at SAS Innovate, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed future of AI, quantum computing, their integration into business operations and the pursuit of a better tomorrow through transformative technology. (* Disclosure below.)

Harnessing the power of quantum computing

Quantum computing has a transformative potential to address intricate combinatorial problems prevalent in industries such as finance, life sciences and insurance, according to Harris. Unlike traditional computing, quantum computing’s ability to exist in multiple states simultaneously offers unprecedented computational power.

“Quantum will give you the abilities to instantaneously search that entire space, because of its unique characteristics and qualities and then find the best solutions that can be put back into traditional computing,” he said. “It’s almost like shortcuts to good enough answers that can be put back into traditional computing, which means all that cloud spend collapses to a much shorter amount of time.”

There are some scalability challenges inherent in quantum computing, though there are ongoing efforts to address them. This is why it is crucial to find the right problems suited for quantum solutions, which in turn should drive down the cost of computation and unlock previously unsolvable challenges, Harris explained.

“I think it’s like 35 billion as the market size right now, but it’s projected to go to a trillion dollars by 2030,” he said. “One of the big things that’s happening in quantum is this idea of qubits … as we go through the qubits, scaling up on that, we’ll be able to scale into more sophisticated problems in the market … quantum can help solve these things.”

Human-centric approach

It is also important to leverage technology for the betterment of society. There is an imperative to address challenges such as software bugs and safety concerns, underscoring the need for responsible AI deployment, according to Harris.

As SAS continues to innovate and explore the frontiers of AI and quantum computing, the focus remains on delivering real-world solutions that drive meaningful impact while ensuring ethical and responsible deployment.

“I believe that we are building AI for us,” he said. “It’s not the other way around. We’re building it for our benefit. We should be thinking about how we’re going to use it for ultimately how we want better society.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of SAS Innovate:

(* Disclosure: SAS Institute Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither SAS Institute nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE