Insider Brief:
- Anders Indset and whurley discuss why building the quantum future requires ecosystems, middleware, and societal readiness beyond hardware advances.
- Whurley stresses that interoperability and shared platforms are the real bottlenecks, making collaboration more important than qubit counts.
- He highlights the urgent need for standardization to create trust, enable adoption, and guide government and enterprise decision-making.
- The conversation explores AI’s synergy with quantum, the education of “AI-native” generations, adaptive organizations, and whurley’s vision to empower a billion minds to tackle global challenges.
In this episode of The Quantum Economy Podcast, host Anders Indset speaks with William Hurley, better known as whurley, founder and CEO of Strangeworks and a well-known voice in quantum computing. Their discussion centers on how building the future of quantum requires more than advancing hardware; it depends on engaging ecosystems, setting standards, and preparing society for a new era of science and technology.
Whurley emphasizes that while qubit counts and hardware progress dominate headlines, the real bottleneck lies in middleware and interoperability. Creating platforms where researchers, enterprises, and developers can work together is, in his view, the harder and more impactful challenge. Without shared infrastructure and open environments, progress risks stalling despite technical milestones.
Another key theme is standardization. In a field crowded with performance claims, whurley argues that the lack of objective benchmarks makes it difficult for governments, enterprises, and scientists to make informed choices. Establishing credible measures is essential for trust, adoption, and long-term market growth.
The conversation also extends beyond technology to explore how AI and quantum computing reinforce one another, the role of education in preparing “AI-native” generations, and the emergence of adaptive “becoming organizations.” For whurley, his “billion minds” vision, empowering vast numbers of people to participate in discovery and innovation, will determine whether these tools lead to meaningful solutions for global challenges.
This episode touches on:
- Why ecosystems and middleware matter more than hardware alone
- How standardization underpins credibility and adoption
- The symbiotic role of AI and quantum computing in scientific progress
- The importance of experiential education for AI-native generations
- The rise of adaptive “becoming organizations” in the quantum era
- Whurley’s vision to empower a billion minds to solve global challenges
Listen and Learn
You can access this episode of The Quantum Economy Podcast on all major platforms:
- Listen on Spotify
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Listen on YouTube
New episodes of The Quantum Economy Podcast will be featured on The Quantum Insider. As quantum technologies evolve alongside other exponential fields, thoughtful engagement with the broader questions they raise on design, governance, value, and responsibility remains essential.
About the Host
Anders Indset is a Norwegian-born business thinker and investor known for bringing together philosophy and emerging technology. He is the author of The Quantum Economy, a book that examines how the logic of quantum computing, its uncertainty, entanglement, and probabilistic nature, can be applied to institutions and economies facing complexity and rapid change. His framework, Triangular Alchemy, proposes a new approach to organizational leadership in exponential times: balancing innovation (Forge), efficiency (Optimize), and investment (Scale) through anticipatory governance. His new book, The Singularity Paradox: Bridging the Gap Between Humanity and AI, is available now.
The podcast draws on this background while integrating real-time insights from global practitioners. It is not a promotional platform, but a curated forum for meaningful dialogue around technological transformation and human responsibility.
