A global survey of 500 executives by SAS shows a growing interest in quantum AI, but at the same time a clear reluctance to introduce it in practice. Many companies do not yet see any clear application possibilities for quantum technology in productive operations, although experts assume that powerful quantum hardware will be available on a larger scale in the early 2030s.

The most important obstacles cited by respondents were uncertainty about specific use cases, high implementation costs, a lack of specialist staff, a lack of expertise, a limited number of available solutions and an unclear regulatory framework.

"Despite continued strong interest, executives understandably remain cautious and don't want to go all in on investments in expensive quantum technology that they fear may not have worthwhile use cases," says Bill Wisotsky, Principal Quantum Architect at SAS.

According to SAS, it relies on a hybrid approach in which machine learning algorithms are already being executed on available quantum hardware. The aim is to process complex tasks or tasks that were previously difficult to solve more quickly.

For the fourth quarter of 2026, the company is announcing the SAS Quantum Lab for customers of the SAS Viya platform. The environment is designed to enable companies without in-depth knowledge of quantum physics to test applications and evaluate economic potential. Functions for comparing classic, quantum-based and hybrid methods, a virtual AI tutor and, according to SAS, tests with more than 100 times faster data processing and up to 99 percent lower operating costs are planned.

The fields of application expected by companies include more precise fraud detection in the financial sector, optimized 5G networks, faster molecular simulations in drug research, more efficient supply chains, more powerful machine learning models and the optimization of large language models.

"The survey illustrates what SAS experts have already observed in the market: Executives are very interested in using quantum computing. But the barriers to entry and risks of a 'homegrown' architecture are too high. They prefer to wait for a ready-to-use solution," says Amy Stout, Head of Quantum Product Strategy at SAS.