From Promise to Practice: Closing the Application Gap in Quantum Computing

Abstract

Quantum computing is a deep technology whose progress cannot be driven effectively from one direction alone. While the field has developed a growing catalogue of mathematically grounded algorithmic speedups, industrial impact will depend just as much on starting from real industrial decision contexts and working downward to what must be computed, validated and integrated. In this Perspective, I argue that sustained progress requires treating these two directions: bottom-up development from physics, hardware and algorithms, and top-down development from industrial needs and constraints. Equally primary and continuously coupled. This dual-viewpoint is not a matter of balance for its own sake. Quantum computers cannot solve arbitrary problems, so engagement with industry must remain anchored in algorithmic tractability. Yet tractable computations are rarely valuable unless they connect to decision points in established workflows such as candidate selection in drug discovery or the design of a new aircraft shape with improved aerodynamics. I analyse how historical narratives and structural separations of expertise slowed the formation of this coupling and outline what it takes to build it: explicit interfaces between technical teams and domain context and intermediate layers that translate quantum outputs into decision-relevant observables without suffocating foundational innovation. Framed this way, quantum computing's opportunity is clearest where deep physical modelling meets high-value decisions. Provided the field co-designs both sides from the outset.