HPE World Quantum Day | Dr. Mikael Johansson, CSC

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Dr. Mikael Johansson

Manager, Quantum Technologies

CSC - IT Center for Science

Paul Gillin

Enterprise Editor & Host

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Dr. Mikael Johansson, CSC

Dr. Mikael Johansson

Manager, Quantum Technologies CSC - IT Center for Science

Paul Gillin

Enterprise Editor & Host SiliconANGLE Media, Inc.

In this interview from HPE World Quantum Day 2026, Mikael Johansson, manager of quantum technologies at CSC – IT Center for Science, joins theCUBE's Paul Gillin to discuss how hybrid quantum-classical computing is accelerating the transition from research curiosity to early practical breakthrough. Johansson introduces the LUMI-Q Consortium, a EuroHPC initiative that pairs classical supercomputing power with quantum hardware to give European researchers hands-on access to hybrid workflows. He explains why quantum computers are uniquely suited to inherently qua... Read more

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How difficult is it for researchers to access quantum computing resources outside of initiatives like LUMI‑Q? add

What near-term problems could quantum computers help solve in chemistry and materials science—such as designing better catalysts, batteries, and magnets—by more naturally simulating quantum interactions that classical computers struggle to model accurately? add

What benefits would accrue to Finland or to Europe from having a lead in quantum computing? add

What are the plans for integrating quantum computing into the LUMI AI Factory—specifically, what is LUMI-IQ, where will it be hosted, and what is the current status of that integration? add

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Dr. Mikael Johansson, CSC

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Paul Gillin

>> This is TheCUBE. I'm Paul Gillin, and we are celebrating World Quantum Day, an annual event, raising public awareness and understanding of quantum science and technology around the world. You can check out more at worldquantumday.org. It's a very exciting time in quantum computing right now with commercial models beginning to reach the market, multi-qubit quantum computers in labs, a potential revolution in computing, really. Here to tell us about his part of it is Dr. Mikael Johansson. He's the Manager for Quantum Technologies at CSC, The Finnish IT Center for Science. Dr. Johansson oversees CSC's participation in global initiatives related to quantum technologies and in general explores and enables the uptake of quantum technologies in R&D communities. CSC actually does not currently have a quantum computer, but it does have one of the world's fastest supercomputers, a Cray model that is combining with a quantum computer at the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland to make it available to European researchers. Now, this hybrid approach will enable these researchers to test the limits of both architectures. And Dr. Johansson, thank you so much for joining us today.

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Thank you for having me.

Paul Gillin

>> So how does the LUMI-Q concern... First of all, tell us about the LUMI-Q Consortium. What is the objective there?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Well, the LUMI-Q Consortium, so that's one of these EuroHPC efforts where the European Union has funded several projects to really drive forward this hybrid method of computing where we combine classical supercomputers with quantum computers. And LUMI-Q is one of them and CSC is part of a consortium that is setting up the service of where we really want to give European users the opportunity to start testing and experimenting with quantum computing and really figuring out what use they will have in the future.

Paul Gillin

>> How difficult is it for researchers to get access to quantum computing outside of your efforts?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> I would say that it has been or become much easier in the latest years. So there are several cloud providers already providing access to quantum computers. So it's not that difficult. I think the barrier is more in getting users to find out what quantum computers are useful for. But within the EuroHPC efforts like LUMI-Q, so the focus is really on this hybrid computing and figuring out where we can combine the power of classical supercomputers, HPC, and quantum computers, and make them work together in an efficient way to really solve problems that one could not solve before with either technology alone, neither classical supercomputers or just cloud quantum computers.

Paul Gillin

>> Well, I think there is confusion among those of us who are not quantum experts about what exactly quantum computers excel at. Can you give an example of a type of use case where a quantum computer is able to achieve orders of magnitude better performance than a classic supercomputer?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Yes. So quantum computers, they operate fundamentally at a completely different level than classical supercomputers that are restricted in a way to this manmade human invented logic of zeros and ones. So quantum computers use quantum logic in their mathematical operations, and that makes it possible to solve certain types of mathematical problems, for example, in a much more efficient manner than if one would be using classical logic. And already from the beginning, when one came up with the idea of quantum computing in the shift of the 1970s, 1980s, then one of the first applications that one taught up for these new machines that didn't exist at that time was to really probe and explore and investigate the quantum world. And the quantum world, that was a very, very broad concept, but concretely it involves studying how, for example, electrons interact with each other. And that's again, the basis for chemistry in general and material science in a broad sense to really know what happens at the atomic scale and sometimes even smaller. And that's something that classical computers really struggle with when they try to solve these very complex equations, at least when one needs high accuracy, which is needed for several types of problems. And here, quantum computers really have the potential to make extremely powerful breakthroughs. And for example, take just the green transition as an example, we could design better catalysts and develop next generation batteries and magnets that are very central, of course, to modern society. And this is really where the type of materials, challenges where quantum enhanced simulations can come to real breakthroughs. And it's also this type of problems where quantum computers can make a real difference. And it's by solving the problems in a way, not by brute force methods, but solving it in a more natural way, just because the problem itself is inherently quantum mechanical. So that I would see as one of these near term breakthroughs that quantum computers really can drive.

Paul Gillin

>> The LUMI-Q Consortium is making Cray supercomputer and quantum computer resources available. What is the significance of having both of those available to researchers? How are they applying the two together?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Well, as I said earlier there, so the quantum computers can be very efficient at solving certain types of problems, but there is still a large category of problems that really will not be performed better if you have a quantum computer. So in any sort of real world problem solving or real world application where you have a larger problem, a modeling problem that you want to solve, then there's a big need still for classical supercomputing, and that's not going to change. So it's more of finding those bottlenecks in classical HPC, and then identifying those and then figuring out if by using a completely different quantum logic, one could find solutions that are more efficient. And that's why we are going to need both the raw power of supercomputers for a long time, if not forever, and then enhance their operations by really offloading some of the most complex equations for quantum computers, if they are suitable for quantum computing. Not everything is, of course.

Paul Gillin

>> You mentioned earlier the value of quantum in modeling interactions between atoms, for example. How about in a more commercial realm, such as in pharmaceuticals or in finance? Are there areas there where quantum can be a game changer?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Yes, definitely. So pharmaceutical, so that's then maybe the next level of this molecular modeling. So it's a specific application field of, let's say, quantum chemistry where we really need to figure out how drug molecules, for example, interact with receptors in our proteins and how drug molecules actually work. And that's also inherently a quantum mechanical problem to really figure out the interactions between these small molecules and larger molecules within ourselves, within our body. So the problem itself is still basically a quantum mechanical problem. It's just application field that of course then has more impact, or at least is a very specific field where quantum computing in the future can have an impact. So definitely pharmaceutics, if you want to look at the drug efficiency, efficacy, and so forth, will benefit greatly from quantum computing. And again, from the point of view of solving the original idea of quantum computers, which is quantum mechanical problems. But the palette of problems that quantum computers really are good at has extended quite much in the 40, 50 years since the original idea came and then general optimization problems are now also seen as very amenable for quantum computing. And here, of course, financial risk analysis and portfolio optimization are often taken up as examples where complex optimization solutions really can have an impact. So there's definitely plenty of commercial use for quantum computers, but we are maybe not there quite yet.

Paul Gillin

>> Do you see quantum technology infusing itself into other mainstream commercial computing technology to the point that someday you'll be able to buy a quantum computer or a quantum powered computer off the shelf?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Well, maybe not make predictions too far into the future, there's a famous quote that no one is going to need a quantum... Or a normal computer at home either, but I think that's for quantum computers because the technology will for a long time require quite much space to operate. So for example, presently, one of the more successful technologies on how to construct quantum computers depend on having very low temperatures close to absolute zero and just the refrigerator or the cryostat that can cool down your quantum processing unit, the QPU to almost zero kelvin takes a lot of space and is also very expensive. So at least I would say that for the foreseeable future, you will not have a quantum computer at home and you will not buy it off the shelf. So it is specialized hardware that, in a way, the same way that the supercomputers are specialized hardware. So even if they are based on very much the same technology as your laptop, then you are still not going to have a supercomputer that is the size of a football field at home.

Paul Gillin

>> Is there a global race on for quantum advantage?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Yes, yes. I think there is. And I think that's a good thing because I think in recent years we have moved from this theoretical idea of a quantum computer in theory being able to solve some problems much more efficiently than classical computers to really now being at the doorstep of true quantum advantage where quantum computers do provide solutions more efficiently or using less energy or than more accurate solutions. And there is still a need to really develop the software and come up with algorithms and problem classes that could exhibit this quantum advantage. And having a healthy race here is, I think, very good for the field in general. And I think it is being fueled by the promise of quantum computing, having a real breakthrough in the coming years.

Paul Gillin

>> And so what benefits would accrue to Finland or to Europe having a lead in quantum computing?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Well, I think for any nation or a larger area, having a lead in technology is good for economy. But I think the most important part is that one is up there at the top and really understands these technologies and understands what it's good at and has the competence to really develop both the hardware and the software of a new breakthrough technology because, well, obviously having, let's say, the best quant to computer available on the market is good for economy through sales, but I would say that the even more important is having the skills to utilize the new technology and really use the technology for solving some problems that are really, really impactful and have wide societal benefits. And it comes through being and keeping oneself at the top of the technology and really understanding how it works, but even more than understanding how to actually use it.

Paul Gillin

>> As you know, there are many different architectures for quantum computers right now. Do you see one emerging as sort of the standard or will we continue to have a diversity of approaches for a long time?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Yeah, I think we will have diversity for a long time, and I think that is very healthy. So announcing a winner in the technology rates, for example, on the way of constructing qubits, it's much too premature at this stage. And most likely one will have a future where different types of quantum computers will be good at solving slightly different types of problems. So I think it's necessary to not lock down on a specific technology or even a few technologies, but to really explore many different ways of implementing quantum computers, because we are still at a rather early stage and it might be that some technologies will face scaling up issues along the road. And then already for that reason, it is important to have several alternatives to fall back to, or to develop in parallel, I would say. And so no, we do not have a winner yet, and we probably will not have one single winning technology for a very long time, if ever.

Paul Gillin

>> Do you foresee quantum having a sort of a ChatGPT moment where the consciousness, the awareness of the technology explodes, people see a real practical value to it, or is this more of a niche approach, small niches of different industries?

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Yeah, I would not say that it's a niche approach, but even if the types of problems that quantum computers are good at is maybe rather specific, but at the same time, those areas will have utility in a very broad field of applications then. So we mentioned pharmaceuticals there already and materials, science, and optimization. And all of these methods are, of course, something that is used very broadly across several disciplines. So in that way, it's not going to be a niche technology, but regarding a ChatGPT moment, so I think what we will see is a steady increase in the capacity of quantum computers. So there's not going to be a step function that now suddenly one, two computers do something very much faster than before. So we don't have this moment that in the field of traditional large language models and ChatGPT, AI, so that step moment came from the capacity to suddenly be able to analyze much larger amounts of data than before. But here it is more of improving the hardware, improving the quantum computer capacities, and they will continue to steadily grow in the performance, which means that we will first see a bit of incremental performance for some problems that will continue to grow then. And then also the applications field, so they will grow one by one over time, but I don't think we will have the same type of ChatGPT moment, except maybe in the way that suddenly when the first real advantage, quantum advantage is demonstrated, then it might come as a surprise to people who were not looking into the field before and in that way, but more of a wake-up call that, okay, now at least it's time to start investing in quantum computing.

Paul Gillin

>> And so what's ahead for CSC and for LUMI-Q? I understand CSC is getting a quantum computer next year.

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Yes, yes. So LUMI-Q was EuroHPC project where the quantum computer actually is located in Australia and the Czech Republic hosted by IT for Innovations, but we are now in the middle of setting up the LUMI AI Factory, which is one of the several European AI factory initiatives. And for the LUMI AI Factory, we are also integrating a quantum computing platform there called LUMI-IQ, and that's what we'll be hosted in the same data center as the actual supercomputer, the AI, the supercomputer. So that's something that we are very much working on right now. So as we speak, we are in the middle of negotiations for both classical supercomputing platform and LUMI-IQ quantum computing platform. But the goal is anyway, to really set up from the beginning a tightly integrated platform where end users can explore the combination of AI, classical AI, and quantum computing in a completely new manner. And we are very much looking forward to see what our end users come up with for use cases and other developments there. So we are very happy to provide this infrastructure for the European community and of course through collaborations on a more global scale.

Paul Gillin

>> Well, Dr. Mikael Johansson, you certainly are in an exciting place at the intersection of the leading edge technology. Thanks for taking some time out to tell us about your experiences today.

Dr. Mikael Johansson

>> Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.

Paul Gillin

>> This is Paul Gillin. This is TheCUBE. It's World Quantum Day that we're celebrating. Thanks to Hewlett-Packard Enterprise for their sponsorship. We'll be back with more.