Why software is the essential building block behind quantum computing’s huge potential

Quantum computing is no longer a distant concept. It’s rapidly becoming a strategic priority for multiple industries seeking breakthroughs in materials science, energy efficiency, molecular modelling, and drug discovery. However, even the most advanced quantum hardware is ineffective without robust software, and today, quantum software remains far from mature.

The shift we’re seeing is not in the physics behind quantum, but rather the urgency to find workable applications. As fault-tolerant quantum systems move closer to feasibility, organisations are asking what quantum development looks like in practice. And the reality is that most of the procedures and approaches that developers learnt from classical computing just don’t apply.

Trial and error are not in the quantum vocabulary

Consider iteration. In traditional software development, iteration is fast and inexpensive. Developers write code, test it, debug it, and repeat the process until they get it right. Quantum development is fundamentally different, and does not allow for this trial–and-error methodology. To start, developers cannot run a quantum program on a laptop, and simulating even modest qubit counts (the quantum bits that process information) is computationally prohibitive. 30 qubits is about as much as a supercomputer can handle and by 50 qubits the world doesn’t have enough classical computing power to make the simulation worthwhile. This constraint inevitably forces a rethink of development workflows.

Hardware challenges compound the issue. Early quantum machines were delicate and noisy, often failing after a few hundred operations, making calculations entirely meaningless. While today’s fault tolerance improvements offer stability through error correction, they also introduce complexity. As quantum systems scale, control mechanisms become increasingly intricate—and significantly harder to secure.

The solution lies in abstraction. It is too much to expect developers to manually control qubits, noise, correction logic, and security. Just as classical computing evolved beyond direct memory management and tweaking hardware to fit the task in hand and became automated and efficient, quantum software must follow suit. Emerging software toolchains are already reducing complexity, guiding developers toward proven patterns and automating low-level decisions.

Libraries now handle qubit allocation, circuit design, and resource tracking—critical software-enabled steps toward making quantum development accessible beyond those with a physics degree.

The need for a secure development environment

Security, however, remains a major concern. Quantum research intersects with national strategic interests, making algorithms and architectures high-value targets. The risk of encrypted data being harvested today and decrypted at a later point is real, reshaping what secure development environments require. For many organisations, loosely managed or shared platforms are no longer viable, and it is only systems with end-to-end control that will pass the acceptance test. Data sovereignty, strict access policies, and integration with enterprise security frameworks are non-negotiable. Adopting quantum computing cannot come at the price of reducing security protocols. PsiQuantum exemplifies this approach. Rather than adapting existing platforms, the company — which is US-based and develops million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum computers — has built secure, preconfigured environments tailored to quantum’s unique constraints. Researchers and developers operate within isolated toolchains on infrastructure that the organisation can directly control, which ensures that sensitive work remains protected while operational friction is kept to a minimum. This model is gaining traction as businesses prepare for quantum systems capable of solving real-world challenges within the next ten years.

Reaping the collaboration effect

Despite the security imperatives, open source remains essential to the evolution of quantum computing. Many of today’s quantum tools, such as compilers, simulators, and resource estimators, exist because of open and collaborative development. Organisations hoping to harness the advantages of quantum may find that balancing openness with security is challenging, but this shouldn’t be a barrier. Across the world, businesses are finding ways to combine open tooling with private workflows rather than keeping the two mutually exclusive.

The fact is that the future success of quantum computing does not lie in hardware alone. The environments and software development tools that allow teams to experiment and collaborate securely are equally critical. Organisations investing in these capabilities today will be positioned to lead when quantum machines are fully ready to deliver on their promise.

The next era of computing will be defined not only by new physics, but also by how effectively we enable development in fit-for-purpose environments so systems can be both usable and secure.