Host City: Chicago, IL
July 22-23, 2026
This year, we’re taking on some of the most consequential questions shaping our future, beginning with how quantum will influence the world around us.
GQF26 will explore society’s grand challenges — the defining opportunities and toughest problems of our time — and the ways quantum may help address them across interconnected economic, scientific, and social systems, from pharma, finance, energy, climate, and beyond.
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Go Inside Chicago’s Global Quantum Forum: exclusive clips, key takeaways and the latest global developments in quantum technology.
2026 Speakers & Special Guests
Jason Zander
Microsoft
Executive Vice President
Kara Swisher
New York Times Best-Selling Author, Host of On With Kara Swisher & Pivot Podcasts, Editor-At-Large At New York Magazine
Kashyap Balakrishnan
IBM
CyberDefend Practice Leader
Ray Harishankar
IBM
IBM Fellow
Mohamad Ali
IBM Corporation
SVP and Head of IBM Consulting
Jake Glassman
OSW (R&E)
Deputy Assistant Secretary of War
Andy Plenge
ComEd
Vice President of Strategy and Energy Policy
Bobby Mehta
JLL
Chairman
Steve Camp
Needham & Company
Managing Director, Head of Quantum IB
Tom South
Northern Trust
Chief Information Officer
Christy George
Illinois Economic Development Corporation
President and Chief Executive Officer
Nadya Mason
University of Chicago
Vice President for Research
Tony Kim
Managing Partner
Blackrock
Ruslan Shaydulin
JPMorganChase
Head of Quantum Computing
Jeanne Whalen
The Wall Street Journal
Economics Reporter
Stephanie Cutter
EY
Global & Americas Power & Utilities Sector Leader
Pete Shadbolt
PsiQuantum
Co-founder & CSO
Elica Kyoseva
NVIDIA
Director Quantum Algorithms
Candace Parker
Basketball Hall of Famer, Emmy Award-Winning Broadcaster, & Entrepreneur
Nathan Bomey
Axios
Business Reporter
Tom Wilson
Allstate
Chair, President and CEO
Brenda Darden Wilkerson
AnitaB.org
President & CEO
David O. Dardis
Constellation
"Senior Executive Vice President Chief External Affairs and Growth Officer"
Calvin Butler
Exelon
President & CEO
Sir Christian Turner
United Kingdom FCDO
British Ambassador to the USA
Gil Quiniones
ComEd
President / CEO
Adam Bluestein
Fast Company
Contributor
Katie Pizzolato
IBM
Vice President, IBM Quantum Platform
Alan Williams
Open AI
U.S. State and Local Government Lead
Greg Moriarty
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ambassador to the United States of America
Jason Silbergleit
Classiq
Head of Americas
Nicholas Rubin
Chief Quantum Chemist
Kevin Cole
Ernst & Young LLP
Chicago Office Managing Partner
Rashid Bashir
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
"Dean, The Grainger College of Engineering Vice Chancellor Chicago Strategic Partnerships Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Professor of Bioengineering, "
Prineha Narang
DCVC and UCLA
Partner at DCVC, Professor at UCLA
Colleen Collins
Blue Owl Capital
Managing Director
Hans Brown
Southern Company
CITO
Manish Dhyani
Ernst & Young LLP
Partner, Growth and Innovation
Alex Dadakis
UL Solutions
EVP & President, Testing, Inspection & Certification
Matthew Kinsella
Infleqtion
CEO
Pranav Gokhale
Infleqtion
CTO
Meredith O'Connor
JLL
Vice Chairman, International Director Co-Chairman of National Site Selection and Incentives Practice
Paul Poast
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
Senior Nonresident Fellow, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Kathleen Hicks
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
Drew Propson
World Economic Forum
Head, Technology and Innovation in Financial Services
Howard Jacob
AbbVie
VP, Quantitative Medicine & Genomics, Distinguished Research Fellow
Ravi Kumar S
Cognizant
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Cartwright
TransUnion
President & Chief Executive Officer
2026 Sponsors & Partners
Presenting Sponsor
Lead Sponsors
Major Sponsors







Quantum Sponsors






Emerging Sponsors










Supporting Organizations


GQF Fellowship
The 2026 conference welcomes the inaugural cohort of GQF Fellows, bringing together emerging leaders from 8 countries who are shaping the future of quantum across research, industry, and policy.
News
Real-world stories, human language, and actionable insights to help you prepare for what’s next.
Why the Billionaire Pritzkers Got Obsessed With Quantum
IBM and Quantum Computing
Bloomberg: Pritzker Lures Another Startup for Chicago’s Quantum Campus
Fox: Illinois' quantum ambitions
NBC 5 Local Tech Trends
Infleqtion plans $50M quantum computer at Illinois Quantum Microelectronics Park on South Side
Nerds meet suits at Chicago quantum conference
Our Chicago: Quantum computing in Illinois
Chicago's quantum campus get's a new tenant
Global Quantum Forum to Debut During TechChicago Week
P33 And The National Quantum Algorithm Center Unveil Grand Challenges Program
The Conversation: Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded For Ultracold Electronics Research That Launched a Quantum Technology
White House Drafting Executive Order to Reshape Quantum Policy
Infleqtion Becomes First Neutral-Atom Quantum Company to Go Public
2026 Global Representation
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cabo Verde
Canada
Finland
France
Germany
Guatemala
Israel
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
Nigeria
Philippines
Romania
Slovakia
South Korea
Spain
Switzerland
Uganda
UK
Ukraine
USA
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cabo Verde
Canada
Finland
France
Germany
Guatemala
Israel
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
Nigeria
Philippines
Romania
Slovakia
South Korea
Spain
Switzerland
Uganda
UK
Ukraine