Building a Quantum Workforce in Illinois: Why Business Leaders Should Pay Attention Now

A recap from the AI in Chicago Podcast with Harley Johnson, CEO of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park

Most business leaders have quantum computing filed away in the "maybe in 10–15 years" folder. After sitting down with Harley Johnson, the CEO of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), for the latest episode of the AI in Chicago Podcast, I'm convinced that timeline needs to be moved up. Significantly.

Here's what stood out from our conversation, and why it matters for anyone thinking about AI, compute, and the future of Illinois's economy.

Quantum Computers Already Exist — and Quantum Advantage Is Close

This is the part that reframes everything. Quantum computers aren't theoretical. IBM sells them commercially today. They're expensive and still in early stages, but they're real, operational systems. According to Harley, leading quantum computing companies — including IBM, Google, Microsoft, and promising startups like PsiQuantum and Inflection — have roadmaps suggesting we could see quantum advantage within the next three to four years.

That moves quantum from a "next business cycle" consideration to a current business cycle consideration.

Illinois Has Been Quietly Building a Quantum Powerhouse

In 2017–2018, when the federal government first started investing in quantum information science, Illinois won four out of ten major national grants — across UIUC, University of Chicago, Argonne National Lab, and Fermilab. That early concentration of federal funding set the stage for what came next.

Timed to the federal CHIPS and Science Act, a group of state and institutional leaders developed a deliberate strategy: take the basic science excellence Illinois had been building for a decade and translate it into economic development. The result is IQMP — a state-backed technology park being built on a former steel mill site on Chicago's South Side, designed to take quantum technology from lab breakthroughs to real-world scale.

And critically, Illinois's strategy is modality-agnostic. Whether the winning quantum paradigm is silicon photonics, superconducting circuits, or trapped atoms, IQMP is designed to support multiple approaches. Whoever wins, Illinois is positioned.

Think QPUs, Not Replacement — Quantum Is a New Layer in the Compute Stack

One of the most useful mental models Harley shared: think of quantum processors (QPUs) the same way we think about GPUs. CPUs and GPUs already work together in computing workloads. QPUs will become a third layer. Quantum won't eat the world or replace classical computing. It will emerge alongside existing technologies in the form of hybrid systems, excelling at certain types of computational problems — like molecular simulation, optimization, and specific classes of machine learning — while classical systems continue to handle the rest.

AI Will Help Quantum, and Quantum Will Help AI

This is the feedback loop worth watching. On one side, AI is already helping quantum companies with error correction, fault tolerance, and algorithm discovery. On the other, quantum computers will generate ultra-high-accuracy training data for AI models — particularly in materials discovery, drug discovery, and chemical process simulation. These are problems where you need quantum-level accuracy on many small computations, then feed that data into classical AI algorithms.

That symbiotic relationship is already forming, and it could accelerate both fields faster than either could move alone.

The National Security Dimension Is Just as Urgent as AI

We've had robust national conversations about the need to win in AI. The same urgency applies to quantum, and perhaps even more so. The algorithms to break modern encryption using quantum computers already exist. What's stopping adversaries is that quantum computers aren't yet big enough to execute them. But nation states are actively racing to get there, and many have been stockpiling encrypted data for years, waiting for the day they can decrypt it.

Post-quantum cryptography isn't a theoretical concern. It's a present-day strategic imperative.

The Quantum Workforce Isn't Just PhDs

This surprised me, and it should reframe how we think about economic opportunity. Studies show that the future quantum industry will require most workers to hold a bachelor's degree or less; there will be a need for technicians, programmers, and tradespeople. City Colleges of Chicago is already building an apprenticeship model for IQMP. Chicago State University just announced the state's first quantum minor and certificate programs.

And here's the long view: the people who will fill the tens of thousands of quantum jobs predicted for this region over the next 15 years are probably in middle school right now. IQMP is already sponsoring K–12 extracurricular programs to start building that pipeline.

The Secret Weapon: Community Alignment

When I asked Harley what lesson would surprise other quantum leaders around the country, his answer wasn't about technology. It was about community. Building IQMP on Chicago's historically underinvested South Side and doing it with deep community partnership has become what he called a "superpower." The alignment between state leadership, federal priorities, scientific excellence, economic development, and community buy-in is what makes ambitious projects like this possible.

That lesson extends well beyond quantum: for any deep tech ecosystem, connecting your activities to creating public good isn't just nice to have. It's the catalyst.

My takeaway: If you're a business leader, policy maker, or AI professional in Illinois, quantum isn't something to track from the sidelines anymore. The infrastructure is being built. The workforce pipeline is forming. The convergence with AI is already underway. The question isn't whether quantum will matter — it's whether you'll be ready when it does.

Listen to the full episode of AI in Chicago wherever you get your podcasts.

Khullani Abdullahi is the Founder & Principal of Techné AI, a Chicago-based AI governance advisory firm, and host of the AI in Chicago Podcast.