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In an interview published by The Quantum Insider on Oct. 17, 2026, computer scientist and Munich quantum-software company co-founder Robert Wille argued that practical quantum computing needs design automation and production-ready software, not just new algorithms. He described the field as moving from basic research toward applied work, while saying that compatible tools must serve different hardware platforms and fit into broader computing systems.
Robert Wille, a computer scientist at the Technical University of Munich and co-founder of a quantum-software company, says the field needs to develop design automation and production-ready software as it moves from research toward practical deployment. In an interview published by The Quantum Insider on Oct. 17, 2026, he argued that usable quantum systems will depend on software that connects applications and users to different kinds of hardware, rather than on algorithms alone.
Wille described quantum computing as being in a transition from basic research to applied research, while cautioning that systems are not yet ready to deliver the practical applications proponents are pursuing. He said the coming years will require researchers and companies to make software work in practice, rather than focus mainly on exploratory research. His remarks are a view of the field from a software developer and academic, not a report that a particular quantum application is now commercially viable.
Wille said he has worked in quantum computing for more than 15 years and is a researcher at the Technical University of Munich. He told interviewer Yuval that he and colleagues founded a company a little more than a year before the interview to turn university developments into production-ready commercial software. The interview excerpt does not name the company or provide details about its products, customers or funding.
Rather than concentrating only on well-known algorithms such as Shor’s and Grover’s, Wille sees quantum processors as one part of a future heterogeneous computing environment that could also include CPUs, GPUs and other specialized processors. He said the practical task is to match a computing technology to a given application. He did not identify specific additional quantum applications as ready for deployment.
Software Must Bridge Quantum Hardware
Quantum computers cannot be accessed by most end users through hardware alone. Software translates applications into operations a particular system can run, and can help manage the differences among devices. Wille’s argument is that a wider range of hardware makes this software layer more important: tools must connect users to systems without forcing every user to work directly with each hardware design.
That challenge also has consequences for organizations evaluating quantum technology. If quantum processors are to operate alongside classical computing resources, software will need to fit into high-performance computing (HPC) environments and support workloads that use more than one kind of processor. The source interview raises this integration as part of the discussion, but does not describe a deployed HPC product or provide performance results.
Wille’s emphasis on design automation points to the engineering work between a proposed algorithm and a functioning implementation. Quantum software has to be adapted to hardware constraints and optimized, and doing that manually can limit development as systems and modalities multiply. He compared these optimization problems with challenges that classical computing has addressed through automation. That is his framing of the opportunity, not evidence that quantum software already matches the maturity of classical design tools.
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A Software Stack Across Modalities
Wille said quantum software should accommodate a heterogeneous range of hardware, including superconducting devices, neutral atoms and ion traps. These platforms have different properties and may require dedicated software solutions. At the same time, he said users generally want straightforward access rather than having to choose or manage tools based on a device’s physical modality.
He praised IBM and Qiskit’s open-source approach for helping build a community, and said he expects Qiskit to remain important. He also pointed to approaches based on MLIR and QIR, which he described as moving in a direction associated with LLVM. In his view, the goal is not necessarily one tool that dominates, but a set of developments that remain compatible while still addressing platform-specific needs.
The interview also touched on AI-assisted development and quantum computing’s integration into HPC, but the supplied transcript excerpt does not include detailed answers on either subject. It therefore supports reporting that these topics were part of the interview’s scope, not specific claims about a product, technical result or deployment.
“You definitely need software to connect the end users to the hardware and to make these applications work.”
— Robert Wille, speaking to Yuval in The Quantum Insider interview
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Deployment Claims Remain Open
The interview presents Wille’s assessment and priorities; it does not establish that quantum computing has reached broad commercial usefulness. The supplied material gives no benchmarks, customer deployments, revenue figures or named applications showing that quantum systems have delivered practical advantages over classical alternatives.
It is also unclear which products the company has released, what design-automation tools it is developing, or how its software handles particular hardware systems. While the interview description says AI-assisted development was discussed, the available transcript excerpt does not give Wille’s detailed position on it. The company’s identity is not specified in the supplied source material, and no timeline for a commercial deployment is provided.
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Interoperability and Practical Testing
The next test for the approach Wille described is whether software teams can make tools work across different quantum modalities and connect them to classical infrastructure without sacrificing specialized hardware support. That will require compatible interfaces and practical testing, as well as evidence from implementations about whether automation can reduce the work of adapting software to particular systems.
Wille said the field is working toward applications in the coming years, but the interview did not announce a release, deployment date or specific technical milestone. Readers will need further reporting from the company, research groups and hardware providers to establish what tools are available, where they run and whether they deliver measurable results.
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Key Questions
What did Robert Wille say quantum software needs?
Wille argued that the field needs design automation and production-ready software to connect users and applications to quantum hardware and help make systems practical.
Is quantum computing already ready for broad practical use?
Wille said it is not yet fully ready to exploit quantum computing in practical applications. He characterized the field as moving from basic research toward applied research.
Does Wille expect Qiskit to disappear?
No. He praised Qiskit’s open-source contribution and said he expects continued development to rely on it, while also pointing to other approaches such as MLIR and QIR.
Why does quantum software need to support different hardware?
Quantum systems include different modalities, such as superconducting devices, neutral atoms and ion traps. Wille said they may need specialized software, while users also need easy access across platforms.
Did the interview announce a new product or deployment?
No product launch or deployment was identified in the supplied interview material. It sets out Wille’s views on the software challenges; specific products, customers and performance evidence remain unspecified.
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