D-Wave Quantum is sharpening its focus on Washington. The quantum computing systems, software, and services provider has created a dedicated U.S. government business unit aimed at accelerating adoption of its technology across defense and federal agencies, underscoring how quickly quantum is moving from research topic to procurement category.
The new unit will be led by Jack Sears Jr., a veteran of the government and public sector technology market. Sears joins D-Wave’s executive team as vice president of U.S. government solutions, with a remit that spans go-to-market, application development, product strategy, and customer support for government buyers. His mandate is to align D-Wave’s quantum platform with the stringent security, compliance, and mission-readiness requirements of U.S. federal environments.
The move comes as senior figures in the U.S. defense establishment step up calls for quantum applications in areas such as logistics, transportation, and complex optimization. Leadership from across the Department of War, including Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, has highlighted quantum as a critical technology focus. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Acting Chief Technology Officer of the Navy Justin Fanelli have both pointed to the need for practical quantum solutions to manage increasingly complex supply chains and operational planning for the services.
Rather than waiting for long-term, fault-tolerant quantum systems to arrive, D-Wave is positioning its current-generation technology – based on quantum annealing – as ready for real-world problem solving today. The company has long argued that its systems are particularly well-suited to combinatorial optimization problems seen in defense logistics, mission planning, and infrastructure resilience.
Jack Sears brings more than 25 years of experience working with federal agencies, particularly in defense and aerospace. His background includes leadership roles with full P&L responsibility, proposal and capture management, price-to-win modeling, and deep familiarity with U.S. federal acquisition regulations. Most recently, he served as chief growth officer at Precise Systems, a professional services firm supporting Department of Defense programs, where he oversaw business development, capture, and proposal functions. Earlier roles at Aquia Inc., Parsons Corporation, and Epsilon Systems involved directing strategic pursuits across defense and intelligence community customers, managing multi-billion-dollar pipelines, and guiding mergers, acquisitions, and integration.
For D-Wave, formalizing a government-focused unit is both a signal and a structural change. The company has been steadily cultivating relationships in the defense sector, but the new organization is intended to provide a single, accountable structure for all U.S. government-related initiatives across the enterprise. That includes tailoring products to classified and sensitive environments, building domain-specific applications, and ensuring that support and operations align with federal standards.
The company has already taken a tangible step in that direction with the deployment of its Advantage2 quantum computer at the Alabama headquarters of Davidson Technologies, a mission-focused technology company that serves the Department of War and commercial aerospace customers. The Advantage2 system is positioned to tackle mission-critical problems today and is expected, over time, to run sensitive applications under appropriate controls. Locating the system on U.S. soil and within a defense-oriented environment is meant to ease concerns around data handling, latency, and operational sovereignty.
D-Wave’s leadership frames the new unit as a response to an accelerating “call to use quantum technologies” for national interests. As the complexity of defense and infrastructure challenges grows – ranging from resilient logistics and asset allocation to network optimization and threat detection – traditional computing approaches can struggle to explore large solution spaces quickly enough. Quantum techniques, even in their current form, are being marketed as an additional tool in the arsenal, not a replacement for classical computing.
Sears’ own comments emphasize timing and readiness. He argues that with a quantum system already operational in Alabama and D-Wave’s technology able to address certain classes of real-world problems today, there is an opportunity to push more aggressively on adoption in national security and defense. The new unit is intended to translate that opportunity into funded programs and production deployments, rather than isolated pilots.
For B2B technology leaders watching the quantum sector, D-Wave’s move highlights a broader pattern: quantum providers are not only competing on physics and qubits, but also on their ability to integrate into mission systems, comply with defense acquisition norms, and deliver concrete use cases that justify spend in tight budgets. Building a specialized government-facing unit is one way to bridge the gap between promising lab demonstrations and operational systems that program managers are willing to bet on.
Executive Insights FAQ
Why is D-Wave creating a dedicated U.S. government business unit now?
Demand signals from defense and federal stakeholders around quantum applications are intensifying, particularly in logistics, optimization, and mission planning. By creating a focused unit, D-Wave aims to organize its go-to-market, product, and support efforts around the specific requirements, procurement processes, and security standards of U.S. government customers.
What will Jack Sears Jr. be responsible for in this new role?
Sears will oversee all U.S. government-related initiatives, including business development, application and solution design, alignment with federal security and compliance needs, and coordination of product roadmaps tailored to government use cases. His remit spans both growth strategy and the operational details of delivering secure quantum systems to defense environments.
How does the Advantage2 deployment in Alabama fit into this strategy?
The Advantage2 quantum computer at Davidson Technologies’ Alabama headquarters serves as a concrete anchor for D-Wave’s government ambitions. It provides a domestically hosted system that can be used to tackle mission-critical problems today and, over time, support sensitive applications under appropriate controls, helping agencies evaluate and adopt quantum within existing security frameworks.
What kinds of problems is D-Wave targeting in defense and government contexts?
D-Wave focuses on optimization-heavy workloads such as supply chain and logistics planning, resource allocation, scheduling, routing, and infrastructure resilience. These are areas where defense and federal agencies manage complex, constrained systems and where quantum annealing approaches can complement classical methods to explore large solution spaces more efficiently.
What should CIOs and program managers take away from this announcement?
The key message is that quantum is moving into a more operational phase for certain problem types, especially in optimization. Government CIOs and program leaders should expect more targeted engagement from providers like D-Wave, with offerings tailored to federal requirements, and may want to start identifying candidate use cases, data sets, and integration points where quantum techniques could augment existing analytical and planning tools.
