EY will gain access to IBM’s quantum computers over the cloud, and will become part of the IBM Quantum Network’s community of organisations working to advance quantum computing.

It is hoped the move will drive further innovation into the realms of quantum computing, which has massive implications for data-driven industries and will therefore impact the insurance space.

Clarifying the technology giant’s position on R&D for Quantum computing, Jay Gambetta, Vice President IBM Quantum, explained: “IBM’s vision is to deliver useful quantum computing to the world. We value partners like the EY organisation that can introduce the emerging technology to a wide ecosystem of public and private industry. This will help EY facilitate the exploration of quantum computing’s potential for use cases that matter in its industry.”

What is Quantum computing?

Quantum computing is a rapidly emerging technology that harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that today’s most powerful supercomputers cannot practically solve. EY teams will leverage their access to the world’s largest fleet of quantum computers to explore solutions to enterprise challenges across finance, oil and gas, healthcare, and government.

The EY organisation established its own Global Quantum Lab last year with a mission to harness quantum value in the domains of trust, transformation and sustainability. Using IBM quantum technology, EY teams plan to conduct leading-class practice research to uncover transformative use cases, including: the reduction of CO2 emissions from classical computing, the improvement of safety and accuracy of self-driving cars, and most critically, integrate quantum benefits into organizations’ mainstream systems for data processing and enterprise decision making.

Quantum computing and the insurance industry

According to global leader, Accenture, up to 80% of workloads will be in the cloud in the coming years, enabling more extensive data collection from digital workflows and behaviours. With the power of quantum computing, companies can extract valuable insights from this growing volume of data to enhance their business value.

Quantum computing offers a solution to problems that are beyond the capabilities of classical computers due to their complexity. This therefore refers to an overwhelming number of variables interacting in ways.

For example, a single logistics trip with 16 stops has 20 trillion possible routes, and finding the most efficient one through classical computing requires sifting through every possibility, a task that could take decades even for the fastest computers.

AI, Quantum and underwiting capabilities

Currently, AI aids underwriters in collecting, analysing, and interpreting vast amounts of data. However, as data on individual customers increases, quantum computing can help insurers identify larger trends and make more accurate predictions about future market behaviour.

Furthermore, quantum computing could revolutionise risk assessment on a larger scale for insurance companies. Essentially, risk assessment involves determining the likelihood of things going wrong. Quantum computing has already been used for risk assessment in the financial sector for sales forecasting and market behaviour analysis by Goldman Sachs in collaboration with quantum computing companies, IonQ and QC Ware.

Equally, a quantum computer could quickly calculate the probability of an individual getting into a car accident at a particular intersection, just as it could identify the most efficient shipping route from 20 trillion possible options.

Bringing clarity to the Quantum computing space

Membership in the IBM Quantum Network is part of a broader effort by EY to invest and develop robust capabilities in emerging technologies, which already include artificial intelligence, blockchain, and metaverse development. Beyond the increased investment of the EY-IBM Alliance, EY is investing US$10 billion in technology initiatives over three years, including investment in the organisation’s own quantum function.

Speaking about EY’s extended partnership with IBM, Andy Baldwin, EY Global Managing Partner – Client Service, says: “Quantum, in terms of importance to business, society and EY, is akin to what AI represented years ago. This alliance puts the EY organisation at the forefront of technology. As we invest in this level of quantum computing access, we accelerate our own position and depth of knowledge and capabilities in this space and deepen the rich relationship with our IBM alliance teams.”

Jeff Wong, EY Global Chief Innovation Officer, concurred: “As we navigate this period of technology-led change, which is accelerating at unprecedented speed, companies must have a full understanding of how to maximise breakthrough innovations in order to keep pace. Through this collaboration with IBM, the EY organisation will now have the ability to take advantage of quantum computing to propel its innovation journey.”