As the world races ahead with rockets, satellites, AI, and the search for extraterrestrial life, there’s a quieter yet equally fierce competition underway: the race for quantum computing. The consequences? Monumental. “Once someone cracks quantum computing, traditional data security will be obsolete,” says Animesh Aaryan, CEO and founder of Taqbit Labs, a startup developing quantum-safe encryption and communication systems. In a conversation with CE, Animesh dives deep into what’s at stake, what his team is building, and why preparing for a quantum future can’t wait.
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Tell us about your background — how did your journey into quantum technology begin?
I never really started out with the idea of building a company or even working in the startup space. My academic path was rooted in fundamental science — I trained as a physicist. I completed a five-year integrated MSc in Photonics from Cochin University of Science and Technology, where I developed a deep interest in optics and light-based technologies.
After that, I did research at the Raman Research Institute (RRI), which further exposed me to cutting-edge physics, especially in the area of quantum optics. Then I moved to Singapore to continue my research journey at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). It was during my time at NTU that I witnessed firsthand how quantum technologies were transitioning from pure research to real-world applications.
In Singapore, I saw a very collaborative and forward-looking ecosystem, where academia, startups, corporates, and government agencies were working hand-in-hand to build technologies around quantum communication and computing. That ecosystem played a huge role in shaping my thinking. It made me realise that quantum technology doesn’t have to remain confined to research papers and labs; it can be commercialised, and it should be, especially in a country like India.
That thought stayed with me. I came back to India and applied for the Fintech Valley Vizag accelerator program, which was a government-led initiative driven by then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. We were fortunate to be selected as one of only eight companies. This gave us both validation and initial funding to start building a product in the quantum space.
But unfortunately, the government changed, and the entire initiative was shelved. That’s when we decided to relocate to Bengaluru, where we continued our research and development independently. Despite the early setback, we pushed forward. Today, we’ve grown into a team of over 40 members spread across our headquarters in Bengaluru, a full-fledged R&D setup at IIT Hyderabad, and a business development office in Delhi. IIT-H has been a fantastic partner — our researchers and their professors co-innovate together. In a deeptech field like quantum, where the science keeps evolving, it’s essential to stay deeply connected to academic research. This journey officially began in 2018. That’s when we started the company and started building our core offerings in quantum communication and encryption.
When you started a few years ago, quantum was still an emerging field. What made you believe it would become big?
Back then, hardly anyone in India was talking about quantum technology, and very few people understood what it could do. But from our vantage point in research and global trends, it was clear to us that quantum was going to be the next major shift in computing and cybersecurity.
To give you some context, computing has gone through two major waves already. The first wave was during World War II, when early electromechanical computers like the Bombe and the ENIAC were developed. Alan Turing, for instance, created machines to crack encrypted Nazi communications. That was computing 1.0.
The second wave was the semiconductor revolution, which led to the rise of personal computers, mobile phones, and the internet. It’s what gave us Silicon Valley and all the digital services we use today.
Now we’re in the early stages of the third wave: quantum computing. It’s based on fundamentally different physics — quantum mechanics instead of classical. Unlike a traditional bit that can be 0 or 1, a quantum bit or qubit can be in a superposition of states. That allows quantum computers to solve certain problems exponentially faster than classical ones.
We believed, and still believe, that this shift is inevitable. Especially when you look at what’s happening globally — Google, IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, and even governments like China, the US, and EU are pouring billions into quantum research. China already has a quantum satellite in space. The UK and Canada are also making huge investments.
But the most pressing and immediate use case isn’t computing... it’s cybersecurity. Today’s encryption protocols like RSA and ECC are built on mathematical problems that are hard for classical computers to solve. But quantum computers, once they scale, can solve these problems relatively easily. That’s where the danger lies.
So, yes, we were early in 2018. But we were not guessing; we were reading the signs. And the pace of development in the last few years has only reinforced that belief. Today, governments and enterprises are scrambling to find ‘quantum-safe’ solutions before it’s too late.
Could you simplify what traditional encryption is and how quantum changes the game?
Let me try to break this down with a simple metaphor:
Imagine you want to send a suitcase full of money to a friend in another city. You lock the suitcase with a password and give it to a courier. That’s your encrypted data being transmitted over a channel like the internet. The suitcase is the encryption algorithm, say RSA. The password or key is the secret code to unlock it. The courier is the communication channel.
Now, in classical encryption, we use mathematical functions that are easy to compute one way but hard to reverse. For example, multiplying two large prime numbers is easy. But factoring their product back into primes is hard: it can take a classical computer years or centuries. That’s the basis of RSA encryption.
Quantum computers, however, can use Shor’s algorithm to factor large numbers exponentially faster. That means the password can be cracked relatively quickly — even instantly — if the quantum computer is powerful enough.
So, the suitcase (RSA algorithm) is no longer secure. The key (password) is no longer hard to guess. And the courier (channel) can be intercepted silently — meaning someone can read your data without you even knowing.
That’s why quantum security has to be holistic. We need to:
Replace algorithms with quantum-safe alternatives that cannot be broken even with quantum computers.
Generate encryption keys using quantum random number generators (QRNGs), which are not pseudo-random and hence not predictable.
Secure the communication channel using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a method where even a slight eavesdrop attempt can be detected instantly because of quantum physics’ no-cloning principle.
Together, these three elements ensure complete end-to-end security — even in a post-quantum world.
Are there any risks involved?
Not really, but here’s the thing: while large-scale quantum computers that can break RSA might not exist yet, the threat is already present.
Data is being intercepted and stored today with the intention to decrypt it later. This is called the ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attack. Imagine a nation-state intercepting your sensitive health records, defence communication, or banking data today. Even if they can’t break it now, they’ll store it and wait until they have the means.
So, if we want to keep information secure not just today, but five, 10, or 20 years down the line, we have to act before the threat materialises. That’s why quantum security is about building resilience for the future now. Just like we don’t wait for a flood to build a dam, we shouldn’t wait for the quantum apocalypse to upgrade our cybersecurity.
You said that the last two to three years saw rapid acceleration. Is that due to AI?
AI has certainly played a supportive role, especially in optimising quantum circuits and hardware calibration. But the real acceleration came from engineering advancements.
In the early days, quantum systems were based on large, delicate setups like nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) systems or trapped ions that needed ultra-cold environments. These were lab-only setups — highly sensitive, very expensive, and hard to scale.
Now, we are seeing the rise of photonic quantum systems which are using particles of light for computation and communication. These are more robust, energy-efficient, and scalable. That’s what enabled us to build India’s first commercial-grade quantum random number generator and quantum key distribution systems.
This shift is similar to how lasers evolved, from giant lab instruments to tiny components in everyday devices. We’re seeing the same maturity curve now with quantum photonics.
Could you walk us through what your company has built so far?
Certainly. Our goal is to create a secure communication stack that’s resistant to both current and future threats — including those posed by quantum computers.
We identified three weak links:
Current encryption algorithms like RSA and ECC are breakable with quantum computing.
Keys used in encryption are generated using software-based pseudo-random number generators, which are not truly unpredictable.
Communication channels are vulnerable to interception without the sender or receiver ever knowing.
To address these, we built:
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) transceivers – These are hardware devices that use the principles of quantum mechanics to securely exchange encryption keys between two parties. If someone tries to intercept, the system detects it instantly.
Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) – This generates truly random keys using quantum phenomena, making it impossible to predict or replicate the key.
Post-Quantum Cryptographic Algorithms – These are new software protocols that are mathematically proven to withstand quantum attacks.
We offer these either as full-stack solutions or modular components depending on the client’s needs. We’re currently deploying these for government bodies and critical infrastructure providers.
What kind of challenges did you face when you started this company?
As a country, over the last 70+ years, we have largely been focused on building foundational infrastructure. We didn’t build everything from scratch. For example, India still lacks local manufacturing capabilities for a lot of core technologies like semiconductors, electronic components, optoelectronic systems, etc.
So one of the biggest challenges we faced was acquiring specialised hardware from abroad. That’s a major bottleneck. It’s not only expensive to import this hardware, but it’s also time-consuming due to regulatory and logistical constraints.
Second, building something like this — in India — is financially challenging. You don’t have too many entities willing to just write you a check because you’re working on something niche or novel. The startup ecosystem here is still evolving, and quantum is already a highly specialised space. So, we mostly had to figure things out on our own.
Another hurdle was talent. We realised early on that our academic curriculum hasn’t really caught up with the needs of a cutting-edge field like quantum tech. So hiring people with the necessary skill set was difficult. You can’t build something innovative without skilled people. That led us to also work on curriculum updates and education partnerships.
To summarise, I’d say there were four main challenges:
Getting the right physical components.
Limited funding and mentorship.
Lack of ready workforce.
Building everything indigenously took time, money, and resilience.
Despite all this, the support from IITs and some government bodies has been instrumental in our survival and growth.
Why did you set up your R&D centre in IIT-H?
First off, Hyderabad itself has a robust tech ecosystem. You already have several companies here that work on advanced technologies. It’s a hub for innovation.
Second, IIT Hyderabad in particular had the right ingredients — a set of professors and scientists actively working in quantum technology. It wasn’t just the infrastructure or branding; we had people who were genuinely interested and supportive of what we were trying to build.
That support was invaluable. We had access to not just labs, but also collaborative minds, people who could help lead initiatives and mentor the team. We also built partnerships with other industries in the area, which helped us scale.
And then there’s something intangible but very important — the rapport, the comfort level we had with the faculty and the institution. Sometimes, even if a place has the best facilities, the human connection may be missing. Here, we had both.
Also, IIT Hyderabad offers an MTech programme in Quantum Technology and Devices, which ensures a regular inflow of trained graduates. That was a bonus for us because you always need new people. As your team grows, people move on, and you need a pipeline of skilled talent. So yes, setting up in IIT Hyderabad was a very strategic decision.
How do we know what’s real and what’s hype in quantum?
We live in a time where communication is everything — and unfortunately, that means everything gets pulled in both directions.
On one side, you’ll have skeptics who’ll say that quantum computers are 20 or 30 years away. And then on the other, you have overenthusiastic claims that it’s just around the corner. A great example of this is NVIDIA’s CEO — initially he said quantum computing is at least 20 years away from being useful. But just a few months later, he flipped and announced that NVIDIA is investing in quantum, building algorithms, and aiming for results in just three years. So, what does that tell you?
That hype swings both ways: sometimes people exaggerate the limitations, and sometimes they overstate the readiness. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
The key is to look at the impact of the technology. Whether it’s three years or four years away doesn’t matter as much as the fact that quantum will undeniably create substantial and tangible impact across sectors — finance, cybersecurity, healthcare, materials science, and more.
If you’re actively tracking real-world developments — partnerships, pilot projects, enterprise use-cases — you can identify the signal in all the noise. The signal-to-noise ratio may not be perfect, but it’s definitely not negligible either. You just need a discerning lens.
And this isn’t just about quantum. The same happened with AI — everyone’s putting AI in their product descriptions today. But just because some are using it superficially doesn’t mean AI’s impact isn’t real. The same lens applies to quantum — be critical, but also be open to real progress.
Where does Hyderabad stand in this ecosystem?
If you look at Hyderabad, I’d say it’s uniquely positioned. For one, the city houses a significant number of aerospace and defence companies, which means it’s poised to become a leader in satellite-based quantum communication.
Second, the academic institutions in and around Hyderabad have been quick to upgrade themselves. They’re training a new pool of talent — people who understand both quantum and its applied components like photonics, cryptography, and embedded systems.
Third, Hyderabad has always had a strong software development ecosystem. But beyond just software, there’s also a lot of strength in embedded systems and FPGA development. So, when you’re building quantum hardware or integrating quantum with classical systems, this kind of technical diversity is a big advantage.
So, I’d say Hyderabad will not just be a hub for building quantum tech, but also for deploying and selling it. The customer base is growing. The city’s geographical centrality also helps in logistics and outreach. Plus, it’s home to key research and defence organisations like RCI, DRDO labs, and more — so it already has the customer segment for high-grade quantum solutions.
Any final thoughts you’d like to share?
I truly believe that quantum technology will bring about changes that are almost unimaginable today.
Think about it — 10 years ago, who would have thought that an AI assistant could write emails, code software, or hold natural conversations? Similarly, quantum tech deals with phenomena that are deeply counterintuitive — like entanglement. Imagine two particles being entangled in such a way that when one is disturbed, the other reacts instantaneously, no matter the distance. That’s no longer just science fiction — it’s real.
But alongside all this promise, there is a very real threat. We are heading toward what many call a ‘quantum apocalypse’, where large amounts of encrypted data are being harvested today in hopes of breaking it later with quantum computers. This has serious implications, especially for sectors like healthcare, defense, and banking.
So it’s imperative that governments, institutions, and companies adopt a quantum-first lens toward cybersecurity. This is not just about innovation; it’s about protection. Critical health data, national security information — these things define who we are. We can’t let them fall into the wrong hands.
At the same time, quantum presents a huge opportunity for India. For decades we’ve been importing advanced tech. But now, with quantum, India can be an exporter.
I believe we’re at an inflection point. And finally — we’re open to collaboration. We want more people, institutions, and innovators to work with us. The ecosystem grows when we work together.