Insider Brief
- Zapata Quantum announced the appointment of three industry leaders—Steve Suarez, Steven Lau, and M. Jeff Brittain—to its Growth Advisory Board to support enterprise adoption and vertical-specific quantum applications.
- The new members bring experience across consulting, investment, and enterprise technology leadership, including roles connected to organizations such as HorizonX, WorldQuant Foundry, and the FedEx Institute of Technology.
- Zapata said the advisory board will help expand its work developing hardware-agnostic quantum software and applications for industries including chemistry, finance, supply chain, and defense.
PRESS RELEASE — Zapata Quantum (OTC: ZPTA) (“Zapata”, “Zapata Quantum” or the “Company”), a pioneer in quantum computing application and algorithm development, today announced the appointment of three quantum industry and vertical market veterans to its Growth Advisory Board (GAB): Steve Suarez, Steven Lau and M. Jeff Brittain.
Within the quantum space, Zapata has unique and deep customer experience developing and analyzing foundational quantum applications end-to-end from use case to execution across multiple high-value domains. These areas include chemistry, finance, supply chain and defense with leaders such as BP, BASF, DARPA, BMW, BBVA and more.
“We’re honored to welcome these industry veterans to the GAB, strengthening our reach in key verticals as we move to expand on our unmatched experience, grow our commercial footprint and drive transformational value creation,” said Sumit Kapur, Zapata’s CEO.
The new GAB members include Steve Suarez, CEO of HorizonX, McKinsey Senior Advisor and co-founder of the Quantum Index; Steven Lau, CEO of WorldQuant Foundry and early stage investor in IonQ and PsiQuantum; and M. Jeff Brittain, Managing Director at the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis and former head of North American IT at Bayer and senior IT leader at Merck.
Hardware-Agnostic by Design
Zapata is the only publicly traded, pure-play hardware-agnostic quantum software company. It works with enterprises to identify quantum-amenable use cases, develop foundational IP and algorithms, and translate emerging technical capabilities into practical enterprise applications.
“I’ve had the privilege of being an early-stage investor in some of the largest quantum hardware companies and it’s increasingly clear that the next wave of quantum progress will be driven by hardware-agnostic software, where Zapata is the class leader,” said Lau.
“We’re seeing that enterprises want to ensure they don’t get left behind in quantum the way many did in AI,” added Suarez. “What’s most important to these companies is not only that they’re working with a proven technical leader but also that they aren’t locking themselves into one hardware platform which may not be the winning paradigm. Zapata offers exactly that.”
GAB to Support Vertical-Specific Applications and Enterprise Adoption
Each member of the GAB brings deep industry expertise that will be leveraged to accomplish Zapata’s mission to create effective quantum applications across use cases.
- Steve Suarez is the CEO of HorizonX, McKinsey Senior Advisor, guest lecturer in quantum computing at MIT and co-founder of The Quantum Index, the leading scorecard for global enterprise quantum readiness. He brings deep expertise in enterprise readiness frameworks and customer roadmaps that drive systematic adoption and measurable value from near-term quantum capabilities ahead of fault-tolerant systems.
- Steven Lau is the CEO of WorldQuant Foundry and an early-stage investor in IonQ, PsiQuantum and Rigetti. He brings extensive experience and perspective on scalable business models, capital allocation and market positioning as quantum software transitions from research-driven pilots to sustainable enterprise revenue streams.
- M. Jeff Brittain is Managing Director of Emerging Technologies Innovation at the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis, where he drives advances in next-generation supply chain solutions. Brittain was also North American Head of IT at Bayer and Executive Director in charge of facilitating technology strategy and execution at Merck. He brings deep experience navigating complex enterprise environments, including pharma and supply chain, key verticals for Zapata.
Accelerating Enterprise Quantum Adoption
The Growth Advisory Board complements Zapata’s Scientific Advisory Board, bringing together leading scientists and experienced industry operators to accelerate the translation of quantum breakthroughs into real-world transformational enterprise value. Together, these groups create a powerful combination of frontier scientific insight and deep enterprise expertise.
“Our mission, tracing back to our origins at Harvard’s quantum computing lab, has always been to bridge the gap between quantum breakthroughs and real-world enterprise impact,” concluded Kapur. “By combining rigorous science with operational know-how, we’re continuing to drive quantum computing from technical progress to transformational economic value creation.”
