Quantum AI could enter mainstream conversations within 2 years, says TCS innovation chief

Bala Prasad Peddigari, Chief Innovation Officer and Global Head – Technology Advisory Services, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

India’s largest IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), expects discussions around quantum AI to enter the mainstream as early as the next two years, driven by ongoing advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

“Probably in a year or two, we may start witnessing the talks on quantum AI,” Bala Prasad Peddigari, Chief Innovation Officer for Technology, Software Services Business Group, TCS, told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the NIIT StackRoute Digital Architect Conclave.

Peddigari pointed to the next wave of computing capabilities that could significantly increase the power of current AI systems. Quantum AI, which combines the computational advantages of quantum hardware with AI models, is still in its early stages of development.

However, Peddigari, who is also the global head of technology advisory services, believes that the evolution from silicon to software, and eventually to systems powered by quantum, is already underway.

The Mumbai-headquartered firm recently partnered with IBM and the Government of Andhra Pradesh to deploy India’s largest quantum computer in the country’s first Quantum Valley tech park.

Meanwhile, the campus-to-corner seat executive cautioned that quantum systems are currently expensive and pose potential cybersecurity risks. “Just like the Y2K problem, we may have to deal with a Y2Q problem,” he said, hinting at concerns that quantum computers could break existing encryption standards.

The Y2K problem, also known as the Millennium Bug, was a computer flaw where systems represented years with only two digits, causing fears that they would interpret the year 2000 as 1900 and fail or produce errors.

Nevertheless, India is laying the groundwork through initiatives like the National Quantum Mission. “There is a focused direction to invest in quantum machines, and the ecosystem is being prepared,” he added.

While TCS’s work in quantum is still in the incubation stage, Peddigari added that quantum AI could eventually lead to new levels of intelligence, automation, and innovation.