Inside the UAE’s push to put quantum computing to work

• Sovereignty race gathers pace
• Commercial pay-off unknown
• Hype fuels the scientific reality

From developing new drugs and heat-resistant materials to tackling climate change, quantum computing is taking on problems beyond the reach of today’s most powerful machines.

The potential rewards are driving the UAE’s effort to build sovereign quantum capabilities, but its lead scientist is cautious about predicting when that bet will pay off.

During a visit to the Technology Innovation Institute’s (TII) Abu Dhabi laboratories, AGBI saw teams developing quantum processors, software and algorithms.

Asked when businesses could expect quantum applications, Leandro Aolita, chief researcher at TII’s Quantum Research Center, replied with a smile: “That’s the trillion-dollar question.”

Quantum computing harnesses the behaviour of subatomic particles to perform certain calculations that traditional computers struggle to do.

OECD figures show governments worldwide committed an estimated $56 billion to quantum science and technology between 2013 and October 2025.

“The player that will have that technology first will probably make a leap forward,” Aolita said.

“A lot of money is being poured into this topic because it’s becoming a practical reality. The timelines for future commercial applications are getting shorter.”

TII is the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), which shapes the emirate’s research and development strategy.

Its quantum centre houses an international team of about 100 people working across computing, communications and sensing – a measurement technique that uses quantum mechanics to detect and measure physical quantities, such as magnetic fields, gravity, temperature and time, with extreme precision.

Leading them is an Argentine quantum physicist. Tall and powerfully built, Aolita cuts against the image of the cloistered, lab-bound scientist. His role includes making abstract quantum technology intelligible to governments and businesses while also overseeing the science.

Commercial applications

Aolita expects pharmaceuticals, chemicals and advanced materials to benefit first.

Quantum processors could model molecules that conventional computers struggle to simulate, helping companies develop drugs, heat-resistant materials and industrial catalysts.

One example is nitrogen fixation, the energy-intensive process used to produce ammonia for fertilisers. The GCC accounts for about 6 percent of global ammonia capacity, according to the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association.

“Plants do it very efficiently,” Aolita said. “They transform nitrogen into ammonia. Industrially, it’s very energy intensive.”

A later generation could apply quantum computing to machine learning and complex optimisation across energy, logistics and finance – such as improving airline networks to cut fuel consumption, emissions and passenger waiting times.

“We may be talking of the mid-2030s,” Aolita said of when that could happen. “It depends on how fast quantum hardware and quantum error correction advance.”

Building a sovereign system

TII’s quantum computing programme spans hardware, the software used to control its processors and the algorithms that determine which problems they tackle.

The institute is developing the ability to design, manufacture and operate superconducting quantum chips in Abu Dhabi.

It has built experimental processors containing up to eight qubits – the basic units of information in quantum computing – and expects an in-house 17-qubit chip in the first quarter of 2027.

It has also installed and is testing an 80-qubit processor from Dutch company QuantWare to develop quantum error correction.

Qubits can exist in combinations of states, allowing quantum computers to approach calculations in ways unavailable to conventional computers, which use binary bits representing either zero or one.

TII’s quantum hardware is already in use. An internal research and development cloud has 42 users and has completed more than 5,300 tasks, including over 2,300 on quantum hardware.

“Opening access to our quantum hardware at this stage is a crucial learning process,” Aolita said.

Although it has not set a date, TII ultimately plans to allow external organisations to use the system.

Building home-grown expertise is part of TII’s effort to develop sovereign quantum capabilities. It takes interns from the UAE and overseas universities, some of whom progress into research roles, and enables researchers based in Abu Dhabi to pursue doctorates through Sorbonne University in Paris.

TII expects quantum processors to work alongside, rather than replace, supercomputers and AI. Quantum machines could generate data to train AI models, while AI could help detect and correct errors inside quantum processors.

Promise and reality

Despite his caution over timing, Aolita expects quantum systems to contribute to drug development, logistics, finance and emissions reduction by 2050.

“There may be applications in climate change – not only in carbon reduction, but also weather prediction,” he said.

Errors remain an obstacle because quantum information is fragile. Tiny changes in a processor’s surroundings can disrupt a calculation, so much of the challenge lies in spotting and correcting mistakes before they overwhelm the result.

Aolita said industry forecasts that fault-tolerant machines – capable of correcting mistakes during calculations – could emerge in the early 2030s were “maybe optimistic, but not unrealistic”.

He also warned that competition for funding could encourage claims to run ahead of the science.

“There is a big hype, and that helps fuel investment, but at the same time it fuels the pressure to deliver,” he said.

Aolita smiled again: “Sometimes a scientist says a little bit more than what is really technically true – and this little bit gets amplified.”

Read our follow-up report on Tuesday from inside TII’s quantum communications laboratory. The Quantum Innovation Summit, taking place in Dubai from September 28 to 30, will bring together governments, researchers and companies to discuss the development of quantum technologies

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