Before quantum computing arrives, this startup wants companies to already be working on it

Eighteen months after selling his startup to chipmaker AMD for $665 million, Finnish entrepreneur Peter Saarlin has left his position as CEO of the unit now known as AMD Silo AI. He’s now CEO of two new ventures: NestAI, a physical AI lab, and QuTwo, an AI startup that aims to help companies prepare for the era of quantum computing.

Currently, QuTwo is fully funded by Sarlin’s family office, PostScriptum, and describes itself as an “AI laboratory for the quantum age.” However, rather than waiting for quantum computing to mature, it is already working with enterprise clients — including European fashion retailer Zalando, with whom it is developing what the two companies call “lifestyle agents,” AI tools designed to go beyond product searches and proactively suggest products and experiences.

QuTwo is built on the premise that AI is hitting an efficiency wall that quantum computing may eventually help solve. But the company isn’t betting on when that will happen, Sarlin told TechCrunch. Instead, the startup is building QuTwo OS as an orchestration layer that allows companies to move from classical to quantum computing — leveraging hybrid computing along the way.

Sarlin invested in Finnish quantum companies IQM and QMill through PostScriptum, one of a growing number of investors who believe they will eventually outperform classical computers in a wide range of industry applications while alleviating the power requirements of artificial intelligence. But he also believes that initial use cases will require hybrid hardware environments, and that enterprises would prefer to focus on their business problems while QuTwo OS takes the wheel.

In this regard, the potential advantage of the compromise known as “quantum-inspired” computing is that it is actually applicable today, because it uses classical hardware while mimicking quantum behavior, overcoming obstacles that still hinder quantum hardware. Meanwhile, the QuTwo operating system is designed to be flexible, supporting both quantum and non-quantum algorithms and chips.

The QuTwo team brings experience on both sides of the quantum and AI divide. On the quantum side, there’s IQM co-founder Kuan-Yen Tan and board member Antti Vasara, who is also president of SemiQon, a Finnish semiconductor startup focused on quantum chips. The business side is represented equally by Saarlin himself and Kaj Mikael Björk, one of his former co-founders at Silo AI. Pekka Lundmark, former CEO of Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia, has also joined QuTwo’s board of directors.

In both areas, the team includes more than 30 quantum and AI scientists, and Sarlin is clear on the company’s position. “We’re building for the quantum world, but QuTwo is an AI company,” he said, meaning QuTwo is “pushing AI workloads from classical to quantum.”

This also means that their customer base can be very broad. In addition to Zalando, QuTwo has also launched a joint research initiative in the field of quantum artificial intelligence with OP Pohjola, a major Finnish financial services company.

From the beginning, QuTwo has been business-minded and already has “large design partnerships worth tens of millions,” Sarlin said. Design partnerships—in which a vendor co-develops its product alongside enterprise customers—are a way for QuTwo to learn what those customers expect as they build their product. It’s also a bet by companies looking to lay an early foundation when and if quantum computing arrives.