Cisco will prepare the network infrastructure ahead of the quantum leap - ForkLog: cryptocurrencies, AI, singularity, the future

# Cisco prepares network infrastructure ahead of the quantum leap

Cisco views AI as the current technological wave, and quantum computing as the next stage, which is already moving out of the research phase. This was stated by the company's Global Innovation Director Guy Diedrich in an interview with Frontier Enterprise.

According to him, it is not about a distant future, but about a technology that has "come of age" right now. Cisco is betting not so much on building its own quantum computer as on infrastructure for interacting with different systems.

One of the main problems in the industry, the executive said, is the lack of reliable communication between various quantum environments.

This thesis aligns with Cisco's recent announcement of the Universal Quantum Switch — a research prototype capable of routing entangled photons without destroying their quantum state.

Cisco claims that the system can convert the main types of quantum encoding and operate over standard telecom fiber at room temperature.

In fact, the company is trying to occupy a sector similar to internet network infrastructure: not the quantum computer itself, but the switching system that will allow heterogeneous quantum devices to be connected into a single network.

Cisco's blog states that direct connection of a large number of quantum nodes quickly becomes impractical, whereas a switching level should eliminate this complexity and preserve signal properties.

Quantum network over 17.6 km

In February, Cisco, together with Qunnect, built and tested a quantum network between Brooklyn and Manhattan on existing fiber-optic infrastructure.

It operated over a 17.6 km section of urban fiber. The project became part of the company's strategy to connect quantum computers first within data centers, and then between them.

Diedrich stated that the industry has been too focused on the Q-Day scenario — the moment when quantum computers will be able to crack modern encryption methods. In his opinion, a different stage may arrive earlier: regulators will start requiring proof of quantum readiness and compliance with new standards even before a practical threat emerges.

He also noted that Cisco is already implementing post-quantum cryptography into the architecture of its products and services. During Cisco Live EMEA 2026, the company presented a full-cycle infrastructure for post-quantum cryptography.

Parallel development

In the interview, Diedrich explicitly states that technologies are no longer developing sequentially. According to him, AI, quantum, and neuromorphic systems are emerging simultaneously and beginning to reinforce each other.

Quantum technologies are ceasing to be laboratory experiments and are gradually becoming a key element of future network architecture, interoperability, and compatibility with existing telecom infrastructure.

Recall that in May, Saudi Aramco and Pasqal opened access to the first quantum computer in Saudi Arabia and introduced the QCaaS platform.