Before quantum computing, before titles and credentials, there was a fearless six-year-old.

Welcome to Women in Quantum Computing, the podcast where curiosity meets courage, and we explore the many unique journeys that bring women into the world of quantum science and technology. In this episode, host Candace Gillhoolley welcomes Anna Beata Kalish Hedegaard, CEO of Quantum Security Defense and Quantum Prime, to share her inspiring story.

From her fearless childhood curiosity to her pathbreaking work in quantum computing and entrepreneurship, Anna Beata Kalish Hedegaard reflects on challenging stereotypes, navigating self-doubt, and building inclusive communities. She and Candace Gillhoolley dive into the importance of representation, the power of storytelling, and the need for more women in science and tech—while also tackling some of the biggest misconceptions and ethical questions in the field of quantum computing.

Whether you’re an aspiring scientist, seasoned professional, or just curious about the quantum revolution, this conversation is sure to spark your imagination and leave you feeling motivated to carve your own path. Tune in for a heartfelt, eye-opening discussion about finding your place in one of the most exciting frontiers of our time.

This episode of Women in Quantum explores confidence, curiosity, and the human side of deep tech, from growing up fearless to navigating self-doubt, leadership, and the responsibility of building technology that serves people.

🔑 Key Themes & Takeaways

1. Fearlessness is not lost — it’s often unlearned
2. Wanting “too much” is often a signal of ambition, not excess
3. Representation in stories shapes who feels they belong
4. Quantum technology must be explained in human terms
5. Listening is as important as intelligence in leadership
6. The future of tech depends on connection, ethics, and care
7. Non-technical voices are essential in shaping emerging technologies

⏱️ Notable Moments & Topics

1. Fearlessness in childhood and how confidence changes over time
2. Being discouraged from math — even while excelling at it
3. Why stories and media shape who feels welcome in science
4. Choosing physics “by accident” — and following curiosity instead of plans
5. Moving from academia to entrepreneurship
6. Explaining quantum security without technical jargon
7. Why quantum computing won’t exist in isolation
8. The ethical responsibility of emerging technologies
9. Building inclusive, welcoming communities in deep tech

If this episode resonated with you:

1. Follow Women in Quantum for more conversations at the intersection of technology and humanity
2. Share this episode with someone who’s been told they want “too much”
3. Join the conversation — your curiosity belongs here

Links

1. Quantum Security Defence - https://www.quantumsecuritydefence.com/
2. Anna Beata Kalish Hedegaard LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/annabeata/

Time Stamps

00:00 "Women in Quantum Podcast"

06:08 Encouraged Early in STEM Path

13:53 "Craving Complex Female Characters"

17:47 "Curiosity-Driven Career Journey"

26:30 Overcoming Doubt: Academic to CEO

32:47 "Connecting Minds Through Technology"

34:48 "Explaining Privacy in Simple Terms"

44:53 "The Importance of Human Connections"

48:21 "Preparing Future Generations to Thrive"

51:42 "Creating Inclusive, Collaborative Spaces"

57:13 "Women Empowerment in Warsaw"

When I was a child, I was fearless and I want to go

back there. You know, I keep trying to figure out

how I. How I go back to the six year old

me that completely didn't get what people mean when something

was difficult. Before quantum computing, before titles and

credentials, there was a fearless 6 year old. Welcome

to Women in Quantum.

Welcome to Women in Quantum, a podcast about curiosity,

courage, and the many paths that lead women into

one of the most exciting frontiers of science

and technology. This isn't just about equations

or labs, it's about people, the moments that

sparked curiosity, the obstacles along the way,

and decision to stay when things got hard.

You don't need a technical background to listen.

If you've ever wondered whether there's a space for you in deep

tech, this podcast is for you. I'm

your host, Candice Gilhooly, and this is Women

in Quantum. Today we are speaking

with Anna Beita Kalish

Hedegaard. She is the CEO and at

Quantum Security Defense and Quantum Prime.

Welcome. Ana. How are you today? Thank you, I'm

good. Thank you for having me, Candice. I'm looking forward to the

conversation. Excellent. I'm really, really excited. You

know, in the green room, we had this little

discussion about names and I just thought what you said about your

name is fantastic. Would you like to repeat it?

I guess you mean that my name exists in so many countries and

it's pronounced in so many different ways? It is.

I think it's very international and over years,

because I lived in six countries and also met people

from around the world. And I always found it very

fantastic that people can connect over a name, you know, and

it brings a bond. And they were like, oh, in my country, your

name is this and this. And I was like, oh, that's lovely.

It always made me feel welcomed. I think that's great.

I think that really kind of immediately eliminates barriers

and it actually brings people to a single point of

commonality. And if you can find that single point from the very

beginning, I think you've already won most of the battle.

So I think that's wonderful. I think that's really, really great. I love it. My

maiden name, I just want to mention is Rechtschaffen, which

is German, which when you break it down means right

thinking. And it's not really even

like a real name if you think about it. It was a name that was

created, you know, in the 1700s,

you know, for, for, you know, people who like the Germanic

lifestyle and mentality. So they chose Rectschafen

which was German for right thinking. Right. But it's like not like really,

really like a name like Smith or Baker or things like that. Right.

So I always find names, etymology. Really, really exciting.

So let's start at the very beginning. Okay. So when you look

back at the very beginning, not your credentials,

just you. What kind of person were you before

Quantum entered your life? I

was very little. I

was very wild, extremely

energetic, curious.

Um, and I. I just loved doing things

and being creative. I've always loved words.

I. I just loved running around. I was also

very doing sports and, and just exploring. I thought

it was. I always wanted to do everything and. And it just was

a such a hunger to understand things

around me and it didn't matter. I loved learning about diseases.

I loved learning math and I loved playing

tennis. You know, like it just. And I always been

fascinated with people, you know, and like how

they are, how they different, how they think and

stories and I loved stories so much

and being very sensitive person and

always lived through. If I read a book, you could talk to me and I

couldn't hear you. If I watched a movie I was in, I was very

fully immersed when I was doing things.

So was there. So you obviously were drawn to math and science

very early on, right? Yes. And then you

continued that curiosity. Was there ever a moment

a teacher, a certain experience when you might have learned a

certain concept that really it made science

feel truly possible for you?

That's a good question. Well, I was at home. Like my mom

is mathematician, so I guess this way

of thinking. I would say that I was more inspired by a

logical way of thinking about stuff and like problem solving

than rather something very specific. At my

science lessons I thought they were just cool because they were describing the world,

you know, but there was this critical way of

faking analyzing things. That was something that was

at home, that was something that was also

precious and it was very respected. Oh,

you, you can analyze things, you can think about it that way. And was

always encouraged. And I think that inspired me

to maybe not only the sciences, but be

curious about problems to be solved. And science is just

one of the places you can apply the things. Like an obvious

place. Okay, so you were. I mean that's

it. You were encouraged from so early to pursue

this kind this sector. You know, it doesn't

sound like you really had the typical experience that like

that young girls face where maybe they're not having their

questions answered or they're not giving answers in the classes that the

teachers aren't picking them and they're kind of found

a way to kind of push girls, you know, away from the

sciences and math. You had such a strong, you know, inspiration

from your family that you didn't really have to think of it any other way.

You didn't necessarily have the obstacles, did you? Did you notice

that there were not a lot of girls around you that were pursuing the same

things as you? Yes, and I think

I've been. I would say that it was not so pink as

you painted it for me. I did very

quickly got lots of signals that

my interest, my energy, the way I was

approaching things was very non girlish. So almost

everywhere where I engage, it was

I wanted too much or like, you don't have to.

And people always had some level of opinion why I should not

be interested in math or why I should not be good in math. Even I

was really good in math. There was always like, oh,

but that's for sure because you're still young and it has nothing to

do with your future potential. So I was picking it up from

every side. And I think even

weirdly enough, at home there was

this perception that, oh, maybe the world will not get me.

So they were trying to somehow, you know, you also have to do

this because the world will not understand you like that, you know,

like, so there was these signals that the way I am and

my interests do not fit. That's not normal.

And as a child it's very confusing. Right? Because

what else should I like, if not the things I like? You know, like you

don't. And I. I think what saved me a

lot was that I always thought that that

was bizarre. I never thought they right and

I am wrong. I always thought they wrong. This is so

weird. Like I was. I always had this voice

in my head that is not okay. Like there is

nothing what I want that. It's absurd. Like, and

it kept me sane and it kept me

truthful to what I wanted as much as

possible. It's not like I didn't suffer, but. But

still, this voice is like something that protected my

little dreams and my ambitions.

How do you think we could make that better for

the young women who, you know, young girls.

Let's go back to girls. Girls that are, you know, in. In

middle school, in high school. What can we

do for them to show them that it

shouldn't be like, well, you don't have to do that, dear. You know,

like, oh, okay, so you're, you're good at that now,

dear. But like, let's see what happens, you know, there'll be something else, that you're

more suited. I mean, do you. What do you think that we

could do? Well, there has

to be girls that appear in books. You know, there have to be. I

was, I think a lot about it. I have kids myself, and I

have a little girl in this age. And I'm

always thinking, what can I do more? So

what I did, I just bought every single book where the girl

is a main character. And

to the extent that my son was like, but he

thinks sometimes that some of the female characters are cooler.

And on the beginning, he was like, are boys always

sidekicks? You know, like, he, he, he. He got

this schedulity. Of course. Then when he went to the

kindergarten, it got all explained to him that, no, you know,

the men are the. The leaders.

It's very quick. So it actually happens very quickly. And I

think we need as much as possible

representation and cool girl characters.

And something that really hit me

also with my kids was when you ask my son

who he would like to be when he watched

Frozen, he wanted to be Elsa.

And you know what it like, hit me. This is what we need

as women, as girls. We need such

cool female characters that boys

would be like, well, if I was to dress up in this

universe, I would be a girl. Because often when

you watch a movie, right, when you watch a Superman, do you really want

to be Lois Lane? Or you really would like to be a Superman, right?

Like you want to be a sport? There's no way. And I want that

for little girls, and we can get there because stories

is. They so powerful. They. They carry

us, they care. They. They explain us the world when we kids. And

actually they explain us the complex world when we are adults.

The stories, the movies. I think that that is

the key to really get to the heart of it. Because everything

later is kind of too late. We are correcting

for a culture that already is showing.

Well, you kind of the second one, right? Because the coolest

character is a boy. You know,

that's, you know, Harry Potter is Harry Potter.

Right, right. No, no, that's absolutely true. And that's it. If,

if girls see themselves in what they're

interested in, then again,

they'll feel more comfortable pursuing it. And it

won't feel like it's something strange to pursue. It would feel like

it's something natural. But I think you made a great point. Like your son

wanted to be Elsa. Like, she was the coolest character

there was. You know, he felt. And

justifiably so. I think it's a Whole

reframing of the situation, right? Like, you know, yes,

Harry Potter had Hermione, right? But why wasn't Hermione

the main character. She could so much be. The book was written by

a woman, right? It could be her.

And, and, and the impact of that,

that type of stories that we could bring to the world that girls

would also have those powerful characters. I love it. I love,

like, I love the movie when they made Ghostbusters and it was all starred women.

Did you see it? It was wonderful. I loved it.

I loved it. Or when they did the, they did like the Ocean's Eleven

movie but then they had all women in it instead of it all

being an all male cast. And it was, it was a, it was brilliant.

It was. I don't know if you saw I. That I love it

so much, right. I want, and I want to see women

doing weird jokes. I want us to do

bad things. I want us to, you know, I want, I want women

to take all those different roles. I want them be silly. I want

them be, you know, awkward. I, I want that they take

that spaces where we were completely erased from.

We were put into pretty clothes, doing pretty

face. But I want to see women filling all those different

other characters and owning them,

you know, like, and I appreciate, I appreciate when

they being even vulgar because I think that we need,

that we need those women characters, you

know, in the movies when they do all different sorts

of things and, and, and there's

so much space to fill it so that

we all can be like, oh, I'm also sometimes so

angry. You know, I'm also sometimes that

lazy. I want, I want that. I want to not only have this

perfect image of women, I want to have this whole

complexity, complexity that men have. And we

crave, I think we crave it. I think

so. I think you're totally right. I think you're totally right.

So let me, so let me understand. You know, I'm understanding a

bit about the beginning. And you were very well nurtured for

it. So when did you turn directly to

physics itself? You see, for

me, physics was a random choice. I thought I was rebellious

when I chose physics because I didn't choose math like my mom.

So I somehow in my head I

didn't knew what I wanted to do. I was good in science, I liked

sciences. And then physics was just this, you know,

okay, I'm not gonna do a math like my mom, you know, I'm gonna do

physics. And then I did

physics, I did electronics, telecommunication,

and there were things I Liked always.

And there were things I did not. And then I used

that as a guidance since I didn't have a fixed plan. I

had this voice about teleportation as a kid,

but I could not use it for a job. I was

always very confused why it's there. I was exploring it.

I even thought that maybe I should do special effects in the

movies because that was the closest. But then the

exam was from the humanistic knowledge and I was like,

I have no idea what that means. So it was much easier to

pass math exams and physics to go to the

university. That something that was very open

ended for me what it means humanistic knowledge.

So I've just chosen that because it seemed right.

It seemed like I. I've also thought when I was young that I have

plenty of time to figure it out. And I think

this childish aspect of my approach, I'm not saying

it's good approach, it's just, you know, sharing with you how I did it. I

just always naturally first

engaged with the world and then tried

to fit how that feels for me

and not take it for granted what my path has to be,

but more like exploring. And that's how

I approach also my education. I was just exploring it.

Always learning, always being ambitious,

but taking it as, oh, I'm exploring. This is not my

end point. It, it's just I still don't know.

And, and then I was. Then it took me to Denmark. It took me

to study inflation theory on the beginning of the universe.

It took me to the labs to work on nanoparticles.

It then took me to US to work on radars and antennas.

It just kept taking me places and

work on so many different technology

projects. I went to Malaysia, also worked on antennas with

carbon nanotubes. Went back, studied cosmology and the

field theory on the beginning of the universe. Then took

a job in a, as a, as a patch in the patent office and

worked on a. Airflows in the,

you know, inhalators for asthma

and studying that there. And then I worked on air pollution

and went into AI because of the amount of data and it was

all just curiosity learning.

And then when I had to make my decision, you know, I was, I was

ready. Like, it's like, oh, what I really

could do is entrepreneurship

and I love it. But I, I think I needed all that

complex path before, you know, so I could get to know what I like.

Okay. It's interesting, right? Because that's it. Like so you

were trying all these different ideas to see, oh, I like this, but I don't

like that. And then you're constantly pivoting and adjusting or

at the same time being given these amazing opportunities to go all

around the world and try out different things

all around the world to see kind of what you were really excited about.

So how did it feel to be recognized among the

top 10 women in engineering in Poland?

It meant so much.

It was. It was like coming back home

when you. After all the traveling, I don't live anymore in Poland, you

know, and then going back and then

being put on a stage and being able to share, you know,

my childhood fascination with teleportation and that it took me on

this amazing journey and then entrepreneurship

and then having people coming, I think it was just like,

oh, I. I come from this place, you know,

that's my. That's my home place. You know, that's my comfort food place.

You know, if I'm. If I'm having tough time, I always crave Polish

food. There is just no way around it. And then going

back and getting a prize saying, hey, we see

you, you know, you are abroad, but we proud of what you do. I

felt it like, like a hug, you know, it was nice,

meant a lot. It's nice like a hug. I like that.

So what's challenged you more along the way? Has it been

technical difficulty, self doubt,

or how others have perceived you?

I guess all of three.

Somehow it's a mix. I mean, technology is tough. I mean, doing

quantum and engineering and

theory, I mean, it's. It's hard.

But I also realize, I remember when I was

studying theoretical physics in Denmark, I realized that

and had those conversations actually with my colleagues. So that

the way they were approaching that, it's difficult. It was very different

than me. And they were like, oh, this is difficult.

I just have to keep reading it many times and then it's gonna be

okay. I was like, oh, my God, this is so difficult. There is something

wrong with me. Maybe I don't get it. And.

But even this, the fact that I had colleagues with

whom I could talk about it and they would share like, oh, they. And

I remember it made me think like, I didn't understand it. You know, it

didn't change my way of thinking, but it really made me. Made me think,

like, okay, it's not me. It is just

difficult. And. But the way I'm approaching it

holds me back and slows me down. And

so the same in entrepreneurship, I feel like,

keep reflecting. I reflect a lot. I spend a lot of

time on the. Developing my emotional Intelligence.

And then I'm really uncovering a lot of things that were given to me that

I should be afraid of. Difficult things that. Exactly.

Going back to this, what we discussed, you know, in a childhood, that

the response to my energy is like oh, this is

too much, you know. And then when you put that energy

out you'll be like, okay, am I stepping over the boundaries?

And that is difficult because it comes in so

many different phases. It comes on the feedback that

sometimes like oh, maybe that means if someone is tough. To

me the first thought would be maybe I don't belong

here. Like it's a, it's this subtle thing

that immediately tells me oh, but the truth is

they just tough and I, I have to

learn. Oh, this is difficult word to say relearn it,

you know, and correct it in my head. No,

you're doing difficult thing. This person is

tough. That's how they are. You belong here. But you maybe

don't want to hang out on everyday basis, you know. But like

reframing things for, for myself because the

signals are very strong in a childhood and they

set up so much.

So yes, self doubt is, is big all the

time. So that kind of leads

me to, you know, how is your

relationship with confidence changed over time?

Wow, that's a very complex question.

I see it way more

subtle I think. And so I, when I was

a child I was fearless and I'm keep come I want to go back there.

You know, I'm keep trying to figure out how I,

how I go back to the six year old me that

completely didn't get what people mean when something was

difficult. You know, when I was, when I wanted to be on the stage,

I did not care that I was not that good in music.

I did not care. I knew I don't have a talent, mind

you. I knew. But I knew that if I spend

day in and day out practicing, I'm gonna nail

it and I'm going to be so good that I can be on the stage

and perform and I'm going to be afraid. But it didn't matter. I

wanted to be there. I want to be back that person. Because over

years I got self doubt and self

doubt actually and the lack of confidence

came from the fact that it was bizarre that I was

not afraid. It was bizarre, it was weird. So it was constantly

repeated to me, well why do you want

it? Like why? It's like well I don't know, like

I don't have, I just want it and then, then I just do what I

want you know, like you won't go and play football. I don't

want it. But I want to play on a stage. That's what I want at

the moment. And, and I would like to go back to that confidence and

I'm still not there. I'm still carrying this

social heritage, you know, of,

of what was given to me. But now over the

last, I said four or five years,

I learned to catch up myself on that.

I catch where the voices are not mine. You

know, they are like, whoa, I don't

think that matters. You know, like, like I just, I just start to talk with,

with myself inside and with those doubts and then.

Right. Rebuild my. As an

adult woman that already have the experience in between, you

know, when I was holding myself back and it did not make

me happy. And when, every time when I

doubt, I see that, you know,

they were wrong. And each time I take a challenge,

you know, okay. I mean sometimes I'm not that good. You know, it's not like

every time I'm on the stage I'm like a star. But you know what,

it's okay. I then go again and then I'm a little bit better

and that's okay. It is failing. So I

started to redefine it that I simply

can do it. And my goal is to get to this like a 6 year

old that totally didn't get. It was oblivion to what

people were telling her. I

really, I appreciate that. I think as women professionally

in all fields, self doubt is

our biggest enemy. And you

know, the whole imposter syndrome and do we know what we're talking about

and why do we even doubt it right when

we've been doing it, why we doubt that, why we doubt ourselves the way

we do. And it's definitely outside force

coming in making you constantly question what

do you really know and are you sure? So

what's so interesting to me also is that you

are a physicist by trade, but now

you've gone over across the bridge to

industry as a CEO and founder

and there's a lot of people out there in

our audience who are on the academic

side and they want to go over across the bridge to the

other side. It's that journey that

they don't necessarily know how to do.

What do you find were some of the biggest

personal and professional challenges that you faced when you were transitioning?

Transitioning, that's a hard one. Transitioning

from academic science into entrepreneurship and

leadership. It's

a, it's a different world where you

sell different things and you

in academia you sell your expertise,

your knowledge on the big, especially on the beginning in

a career right later on also when you go to the leadership,

you start to be more a person that has to bring funds.

And I think that starts to be much closer to entrepreneurship.

But typically the people that want to transition, they just finished, let's say

their PhD, they very. So their experience with

research and academia is very

heavy based in

knowing things. And when you go to

business world, it's not about what you know,

unless that's the only thing you want to sell. Okay, like some

but. And you can do business based on that.

But the scalable businesses, okay, are typically the

businesses where it's really little about you,

about what you know, and it's very much about what other

people need and how you can deliver the value for

them. So. And

that shift when you're in academia

and you're specializing in something typically very

niche, but the value and

prestige put on it is so big, you've been

pursuing it so much, it's really hard to let go.

And you want to know. You want to know everything. But when you

do business, it's very often not about what you know,

but how much you listen to other people, what they need.

So it's. It shifts the conversation a bit

from you to other people. And then you have to figure

out what a lot of people need if you want to

scale your business and how you can really deliver the value

to them. And I think that

that's very hard because when you're studying, your

whole identity is built about you being

smart. And suddenly it really

doesn't matter. Like it, like, I'm not saying it's like

completely, but, you know, it just doesn't matter. Like, it's

great that big owners of the companies,

they smart. But the truth is we are not buying the

products because they smart. We buying the products or the things

because those are good products and they fulfill our needs.

And that means that. But they somewhere along the way

stopped looking only what they think it's cool. But

started to really listen what people would need.

That's a big shift. And also the fact that

it's exactly. You need to suddenly care less about.

Again, knowledge. I think that's encapsulating everything because

it doesn't matter. You're producing papers, it doesn't mean how many papers you

read. It really matters if your business is running and it's very

pragmatic in the end and you

need to engage way more with people. And

yeah, and that can be hard because it's A very different lifestyle suddenly.

That's totally fair. That's completely fair. So as

the leader of Quantum Security Defense and Quantum

prime, how do you define your

mission? What's the problem

in Quantum that you're so passionate about solving?

So it, I would separate it. So something that I already

mentioned that really brought me to this field is teleportation

and I am so fascinated with that.

And I, and that's where Quantum prime got

built. That's how I've built my professional network.

And I'm still so fascinated

and, and when I meet people that you know, they add that

little brick to my understanding of that picture. I

have some, I, I dream in pictures, right?

What, what, what this dream of teleportation could be

and I don't know what's my role in there. And I'm exploring it

and, and Quantum prime was a part of it.

And it's still a fascination

with intelligent networks of the possibility of teleporting

data. I would hope that in my lifetime we will

teleport human consciousness. I'm super excited

about it and I'm following it and always

up for a conversation about technology, but also

what it would mean and ethically or capabilities.

What on the other hand, Quantum security, the

defense is this even

deeper need for me. And something

that always been part of me is fascination with people and how

different they are. I loved meeting people around the world. I loved

living places, hearing people and

building a global network to talk about

business and technology. So

the mission is to connect as many

people as possible together, to exchange knowledge,

to build businesses, to learn together.

I am not sure if there is an end point. It's more like

I want to build a vehicle for a journey

and then deliver value and facilitated

for as many people as possible that they can understand it and

be part of it just because it's cool

and just because they can build career while doing something

amazing. And you know, it's,

it can be contagious. And I think building communities

when people can get together and

exchange knowledge, I think it's precious. I always thought that

that was fun. You know, even as a child I always been in so many

different clubs. So I loved it.

So quantum computing and cybersecurity are

incredibly complex fields. How do you

explain quantum safe security to non technical

audiences?

When I have to tell my parents, I guess they are like the good,

good place to start. I actually just tell them that

it matters because of everything what they do

nowadays. My parents just recently had to get their

digital identities on their phone.

They were actually like, oh, yeah, we did it to protect

our data because there we can define what we want

to share and what we don't want to share. It gives us a bit of

control over our data. So

I always start with something that people can understand, their privacy,

you know, like, well, you want to have it protected.

If you send something, you want that only the recipient

have access to it, you know, no matter what it is. Even if you

send a cringy two cute photos to

your grandma, you know, because

you want to make her feel loved and whatever it's

meant only for her and

explaining it now that you know, there

is so many more tools that can

attack that privacy, that can take advantage of the information that

is taken over and that there is also

solutions to it and that it's worth exploring,

then I don't have to mention Quantum at any point to

have them with me. Because in the end,

it's not about technology.

It's back to this, like, you know, the science and the business.

It's not really about the technology. It's about that

really delivers the value that people care about. And I

think in this world, especially now when our

privacy, you know, got so attacked

and it creeped on us without even us

realizing, you know, that our photos can be snapped

and they can be used in so many ways, it all kind of creeped in

before we realized that our privacy is

so hard to keep. And,

and I think people relate to that very quickly. And

Quantum is just a new tool to,

well, attack, but also to protect

our data. Right. It's just the next level.

So you talk about Quantum being a tool and you talk about,

you know, explaining technology without even mentioning

Quantum, which I think is brilliant. Are there any other

strategies that you use when you're teaching or explaining these

ideas to students or business

folk? Well, it depends. Right?

It always depends on the person that is on the other side. Right. The, the,

the connection and communication always starts to whom you

talk to. You know, it's. You need to meet them

where they are and what they care about. And of course you can take

them on a journey, but you not always might know them that

well. Right. But if you can at least meet them

what they know, then you can make them care about

it. If you just throw at them a lot of science. I think people are

fascinated with Quantum. With Quantum, it's a little bit easier. I've been giving

talks to really broad audiences and

people were coming back and it's like, oh, it always

fascinated me, you know, this Quantum world

and that it's there, you know, so, so there

is curiosity is there so you can.

And then I typically listen what they curious about and they

come from so many different angles on it. Sometimes they remember

what they learned in a primary school and, and then

I start right there with them and we explore,

you know, the cat in a box or sometimes they already

fascinated, you know, with the beginning of the universe and

how magical and like mind blowing it is. And that's

where they, you know, or they have sometimes

some models already in their head. And I typically try

to see what, you know, where the curiosity seed is.

And those are very fascinating things. And quantum has a magic

to it that people heard it. You know,

people heard about teleportation, people heard about parallel

universes, but with business people it's

different. Right? So when you talk with people that you just want them

to come and like, hey, be curious about it because it's so much

fun. But there is, when you speak business, it's, it's

back again. It's less about what it is, it's really how

it solves the problems. It's back to this logical thinking

of this is your problems and this is the

things that could solve that problem for you.

Okay. And then you meet them where they, where

they are with the problems that they care about solving.

And you know, quantum is a problem.

I mean if we're gonna have a quantum computer out there, it's.

There's so many problems to solve and lots of people

should get engaged because we will need every brain

out there to solve access to it.

Such a powerful tool, how we should have access to

it. And that conversation needs

lots of thinking and lots of voices that are definitely non

technical because as humanity we develop also

other tools. You know, it's

laws, it's a governance, it's diplomacy, it's

the language. All of that will have to

define how we interact with those new

tools. And people should

care. The same as I think we did great with climate. My best

example is like, you know what, we did a good job to engage people

with climate change. We finally broke it where

people actually get it, where it meets them.

And I think we will be able to do it with tech. We just have

to keep on trying. Okay,

let me ask you this. What's one common misconception

about quantum computing that you think needs reframing?

You see, I'm doing it all the time, so I

talk with so many technical people, you know, so I sometimes

forget how it is to approach it as non technical person. Right.

It's like living In a bubble, you know, where people mostly speak. Yeah. And

then we are nitpicking on little details and we forget what's the

big picture. I think the biggest misconception

that would matter to a broader audience is that

quantum computer is not something that is an

isolated entity. It's

interconnected to all other technologies that we already

have to all other things that are developing. So if

we have AI development going on,

if we have blockchains, if we have social media and also

our lifestyle evolving quantum computer, when it

will arrive, it will not be just a quantum computer.

And the way it will impact us will be

intertwined into all of that

that is constantly evolving. And treating it

as just another tool is

undermining it. Just as we've undermined AI, you

know, we really did not expect

how AI will completely solve how we engaged with machines.

And then we will also get surprised by the quantum

computers and its capabilities that will be

under, you know, under everything. When you talk to your phone,

you don't talk. You, you keep forgetting that it's AI

driven. AI on so many different levels in so many different

applications. We just got used to it. And one

day there's going to be quantum computer making

engagement with every single machine even

more immersing, and we will get

surprised about it. And I think the misconception is that it's

just quantum computing. It's powerful, it's quantum computing,

but it's not, it's coming to this world, you know, it's,

it's, it's going to be so much more than we are at the moment

envisioning. Okay.

What essential skills or mindsets should students develop

to contribute meaningfully to quantum information

science today.

I think it's very important to engage.

So as the access

to a knowledge, you know, it's there. It's

because of AI, because of

access to information and the

skills that are important is the capability

of engaging with other people and

understanding how do they think. And

that will be very important. And it will not be

only important in business. It

will be important ever more how you teach.

Because it used to be that when you were teaching, right,

let's say you want to be a teacher of quantum.

It used to be that it was all about your knowledge that you know

something and you can deliver that, that it's not anymore.

Every child can just read it on and it will be probably

much nicer written than you could ever say.

So it's not about the

knowledge, but how you can actually engage with that

young person that in the first place. They want to read

it, listen to it or do. How do you. And it will be

the same in marketing, it will be the same, you know, in business

in, in all those aspects. It's going to be ever more important

to really uncover what do the other person

is saying, how do I talk with them, what do they like,

how do I build something or deliver something

that is tangible and that skill is non

technical. It doesn't matter what you will be doing.

The human aspect, like who we are as

humans would be so important in,

in our contribution because we will have so many other tools that

will be taking care of a lot of things. You know, it used to be

important to be a fast typewriter. You know,

it mattered. It was something. It's a course you would take when,

when I was back in school, you know, I remember it

was courses everywhere. You could take that to be very fast in typing

on a keyboard. It doesn't matter anymore that

type of skill, right? It matters that

once you get a text you can reflect on that text and think

how can I make it more appealing to other human person?

What would that be? What would be the little story that I can

make that little change? And this

we have to teach, we have to teach that. And I don't think we are

that good in it, I have to say. Okay,

so now as we kind of come into the final part of the interview, I

want you to know that I've really been enjoying this tremendously.

So I'd like to ask you if I could. As

quantum computing moves closer to real world deployment,

what ethical or societal considerations should

we be thinking about now?

This impact, this impact that

it will not only be on this high level,

on a geopolitical level, on a business level,

but quantum computing will impact

our lives, lifestyles. And

we need to really work hard on

knowing what we want so that we

are not ruled by the tech that becomes so

complex that we hardly

understand it. And it's, we have

AI and we should learn really fast

from AI how we implementing AI,

that it. We are getting it getting out of hand. You know,

we are, it's, you know, it talks to us and

we do what it wants basically. And,

and it makes us sometimes intimidated because it can write better

than we can. And you know, so it has huge impact

on us. And the same is with the quantum computing.

And we have to start thinking about

how to build next generations,

you know, that they can thrive.

Otherwise we're gonna have lost generations. The people that will

not be able because we can't prepare them for what's coming

and they will not be able to adapt fast enough to that.

And, and as a societies we can't afford that. We

need that potential to engage with

the real world. We don't want them to all disappear to the, you

know, the virtual worlds

and be there for the, for the better

of humanity. Whatever people are fascinated

with, we want them to bring it to the real world. And

that is a topic we should really, really think about

how AI, how quantum computing will be

impacting it and how we are not losing young

people because we are losing them at the moment. I see that all

over the place. We losing young people to the digital world

and if they do not see themselves

caring about the real world, it's the

worst that can happen. Because we need their talent, we need their

love. We need that because of the nature. We need that for

interacting with each other. You know, as, as hippie as it

is. We need it for the world, world peace. We need people to care for

one another and they can only do that if they actually are

engaging with the real world. We can't lose them. And I hope that we can

really brainstorm how to

teach them and how they should

interact with technology, that they can keep their integrity.

I'm very curious about it. I'm following the psychology

developments and I'm always curious what people

in those fields will bring, keep bringing in because we need that

knowledge very much urgently I would say.

Okay, so when all the titles fade away,

what do you hope people will remember about

how you showed up in the field and

not just about what you helped build?

I hope that people can feel that I care

and I really love what I do and

if they want to talk to me, they can. I'm always happy

to learn from other people and I hope that somehow I'm

projecting that.

So that would be your legacy that you would hope to probably leave in the

quantum community. That you want people to

know you care and that you, you're excited about the technology.

You're fascinated by teleportation,

which I think is so cool and you know,

you're interested in creating a really kind of welcoming

culture. And this would allow for an

opportunity for many non technicals

to be involved in quantum startups

because. Go ahead. Yeah, I would like

people to feel welcomed. I would like people

that have so many thoughts and they

have their contributions. I would like them to feel not

intimidated. I would like them to be able to come with

their contributions because we need

spaces where people can talk

and not only

the loudest ones, not Only, you know, the

most aggressive ones, but just as many people as

possible can exchange and contribute knowledge. And my hope

would be that my platforms will create that

places where we can, even when we compete in the business

or whatever, that in the end we are humans,

we are building something in this world and we can exchange

knowledge and, and we can, you know, we can grow

as a, as humans together and each

of us will have their own contributions. I truly

believe in that. I truly believe there's so much space for all of

us to thrive if we try. You

know, I'm, I'm a very hippie person apparently. I never thought about it that

way, but deep inside that's all I want. I

want people to learn to, and also to believe

that they it matters. What I find it the most sad

about the humanity is when we give up

about that caring. You know, when we think like, oh, it doesn't matter,

my voice is so little, it's just me, you know, it's

like, no, no, we need to every single

soul. And I hope also for women, you know,

and, and for men that we all will create this more caring

culture. And if, if I can contribute to that,

it would be just perfect. And that is all I want. I want people

to learn and know that they can, they are needed, that we

need them. That's a wonderful message. I'm,

I'm gonna, it's a wonderful message. I, I, I think it's fantastic.

I'm going to include everything that you would like us to include in the

everyone here now where should they find out more about,

about you, about what you're doing about the companies that you run?

I am all on LinkedIn so you can find me. I started

now Instagram, but it's not a big thing. But I'm

exploring that place to spread the world also to people

that are not yet in a maybe professional world, but would like to

also learn about technology. But yes, you can just

type in my long name and then follow. I write

About Tech on LinkedIn. I write about also

being entrepreneur and my journeys. I report from what I

do and share, you know, what I do on my journey also.

And sometimes I also share tough moments.

And then my company, Quantum Security Defense

and Quantum Prime Day both there and we have events every

week that are open. You can come and listen and

learn from the people in my network where they share their knowledge.

And yeah, I hope that

people want to come and be part of it. I'm always

excited about it. Well, I'm going to thank you

so much for Your generosity of your time and to

share your story, which I think is just really super important. It's really

aspirational and that's what we're looking for. And

thank you so very much. Thank you, Candice, for having

me and giving me the, this platform to just talk, you know, about human

stuff. Thank you. So

I'm going to end the podcast here and that was

great. You did a great. You were wonderful. Your story was wonderful.

It was really easy to talk to you. I really appreciated your

message. And then I'm going to go through editing and

then probably aiming to get this out

by mid February. I just want to get a couple more in the kitty

and then once I have a couple more in the kitty, then I want to

start releasing them like every other week. Oh, wow. That's my goal.

Hey, is that the project for this year or. Yeah, that's my new project that

I'm, that I'm doing this year. I just think it's super important. I, you know,

I spent all last year doing Impact Quantum with, with my co

host, which I'm still doing, but I just really felt

that it was essential to have something specific about women.

Women, because the various hats that I see

women wearing, I find it incredibly

inspirational. And I went to Columbia University

Barnard College, which is an all women's college. And I've always,

I've always been fascinated by women in

business, but then I've been in tech for so long and I

see that there's really just a disconnect between women

and tech. And so I want to show women, you know, we can

do all kinds of things. Right? Like, I don't know a lick

about physics, but I, but I went down the rabbit hole

of, you know, of quantum computing over a year ago and I still

haven't, I'm still falling. I love it. Every time I think I've

gotten something, I'm like, no, no, you could know more.

And that's great. That's really exciting. So, yeah.

Oh, you know what? You would love it. You should come to,

to Warsaw in June. There is quantum intact.

I've been there last year 13, 000 women.

I have not experienced something like I had goosebumps.

I would meet women that would be like, oh

my God, you know what I always really wanted to do?

Repair cars.

I loved it. It was, it was just such

a women power and this

talking about like, hey, we have all this curiosity

about those things. And I had women after women saying like, you

know, what I discovered is that I actually really like Math.

And I discovered it first being 30, when they just threw me

on the project. And I had no choice. I had to do it. I

had to do analyzing of data. And you know what? I'm really

good at it. And I dig it so much. You know, they would be.

And they would be surprised how much they loved it.

Right? Because that. It was difficult, but they were like,

oh my God. And you imagine all my life they were telling me that I

am bad in math, that I couldn't do math. And I thought I was bad

in math. And I couldn't say, and here I am, and I love it.

And. And you, you really like it. And it's plenty

of quantum. Like, there is a big quantum stage also, but

you walk around and there is just women, women, women,

women. And they just all like, okay, let's do

more. I loved it. It's one of the biggest women events around

the world. Like, if you have time, you should

totally go. I went last year and I didn't know what to expect because they

were saying they were advertising like more than 10,000 women. I was like,

I think they just say it like that, you know? Right, right. But then you

went. And then I. I went. That's where I got my

award. Okay, Okay. I only went

there because I got a word and I was remembering, like, going there. It's like,

I hope it's good, you know, Like, I don't know what to expect. 13,

000 women. That's fantastic. It's fantastic. And

the lady that is driving it, she is so

much into it. Wow. She is so. And

she's so, so lovely, you know,

and she's making this huge impact and.

And she's. And she's just so driven. She's like.

And she's like, I want to make the biggest. Even I want to educate women

in that. And she's doing it like year after year. It's bigger.

Like in Poland, basically on that two days,

women migrate to Warsaw to be there. Like, I love. Okay,

all right. I like it. I like it. I'm gonna look into that. Absolutely. That

looks fantastic. Fantastic. It is, it is so.

And as you said, like you, when you were in the college, you know, it

just gives that energy and this understanding that

we can do so much more if we just

meet and see. Hey, we are so many. Like, I thought

it was so inspirational. Like, oh, it's just not. Not me.

You know, it's because sometimes it feels so lonely.

Right? But then you realize, no, it's not like,

it's exciting. There are more women. I really. I mean, I can't prove the

numbers yet, but I still feel like there's a lot of women who are hitting

quantum and. And are just excited about it

and. Yeah, I'm like, love it. I'm like, tell

me what you do and how you do it, and let's talk about it. Like,

I think that's fantastic. So I love it. It is. Yeah. Yeah. I love it

too. Thank you for doing it. That's. That's a lot of work.

It's my pleasure. And I'm actually really excited about it. I'm really jazzed by it.

I'm like, woo. And it was great. So I'm all like, ready? Rock and roll

now. So this is great.