Alejandro Perdomo-Ortiz

Alejandro Perdomo-Ortiz, Ph.D.

Research Director, Quantum AI/ML

Alejandro Perdomo-Ortiz did his graduate studies, M.A and Ph.D. in Chemical Physics, at Harvard University. For over 12 years, he has worked to enhance the performance of quantum computing algorithms with physics-based approaches while maintaining a practical, application-relevant perspective. Before joining Zapata Computing, Alejandro spent over 5 years at NASA’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (NASA QuAIL), where he was the quantum machine learning technical lead. Between NASA and joining Zapata, he co-founded a consulting company called Qubitera LLC, which was acquired by Rigetti.

Question & Answer

Why have you chosen a career in quantum?

I have been always fascinated with the potential of using nature’s quantum rules to compute and solve real-world problems.

What is a quantum problem you dream of solving?

Achieving practical quantum advantage. This means creating a computational strategy which leverages quantum resources to solve an important real-world problem better, faster, or cheaper than using classical computation alone.

What are a few of your favorite things?

Argentinian alfajores, salsa dancing, kiteboarding, and daily meditation

What’s your superpower?

|adaptability> + |perseverance> /sqrt(2)

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

People first, science second, money third.