Beyond the Bit: Quantum Pathways — hosted by Amir Rasool, Founder of QAi Talent
The go‑to podcast for anyone building or joining the quantum workforce. Real conversations with founders, researchers and investors about breaking into quantum, structuring teams and hiring in a market with no playbook.
Real stories. Real advice. Real careers.
Two Worlds, One Workforce: Nicolas Adam on Scaling People and Culture in Quantum Hardware
In this episode, I am joined by Nicolas Adam (LINK), Head of People & Culture at eleQtron (LINK), the German quantum computing company building machines with its own microwave-based MAGIC technology, and now delivering systems to Forschungszentrum Jülich and DLR.
Nicolas came into quantum from outside the field: 12 yearsin automotive, latterly as a global HR director responsible for 14 countries, before joining eleQtron, a spin-off from the University of Siegen, ahead of its Series A.
This episode explores what it really takes to scale aquantum hardware company once the funding lands, from growing headcount from around 70 to nearly 130 in a year, to bringing together researchers and industry engineers who need each other but do not yet speak the same language.
We discuss:
🔄 Why the talent shortage is partly a job description problem, and why a missingcapability is a business risk, not just an HR vacancy
🧩 Build, borrow, partner, convert and combine, a practical framework forassembling the capabilities a roadmap actually needs
🚗 Converting engineers from automotive and aerospace who already bring 70 to 80%of the skills, and closing the gap with training
🏗️ The "two worlds" challenge, physicists and industry engineerslearning to work to shared standards, processes and delivery timelines
👥 Why great technical experts should not be pushed into management by default,and why succession planning and knowledge transfer matter from day one
🇪🇺 What Germany and Europe need to do to keep pace in the race for quantum talentand investment
Guest: Nicolas Adam (LINK)
Head of People & Culture, eleQtron (LINK)
4 Sept 2026
Scaling by Connection: Ben McElfresh on Quantum Networking and Building Computers Like Data Centres
In this episode, I am joined by Ben McElfresh, Product Manager at Nu Quantum, the company building the infrastructure that links quantum computers together into a single, more powerful machine.
Ben has one of the more unusual routes into the field I have come across: a degree in mechanical engineering rather than physics, an early career building scientific instruments including SQUID magnetometers, the same superconducting technology quantum computers are built on, then photonic quantum computing at Orca, and now product at Nu Quantum.
This episode explores why building a bigger quantum processor is only half the story, how connecting many processors into a single distributed machine could unlock the millions of qubits that real commercial value demands, and why Ben believes a large share of the people this industry needs next will come from outside quantum entirely.
We discuss:
🔗 Quantum networking in plain terms, connecting separate processors so they behave as one machine, much like a classical data centre
🧩 The two building blocks, the Qubit-Photon Interface and the Quantum Networking Unit, and what each one does
🌍 Why Nu Quantum is expanding into Spain and the US, and how the talent map shaped those decisions
📈 Why quantum roadmaps are firming up, with companies now actually hitting their qubit targets
🤝 The translatable skills coming from high-frequency trading and manufacturing, and why you do not need to be a physicist to contribute
Guest: [Ben McElfresh](LinkedIn URL to confirm)
Product Manager, [Nu Quantum](LinkedIn URL to confirm)
18 Aug 2026
Introducing Quantum Sky: Burns Healy on the Rebrand, the Roadmap and Why Quantum Needs More Than Physicists
In this episode, I am joined by Burns Healy, Director ofQuantum Practice at Quantum Sky
We recorded this the same week the company rebranded from Tyto Athene to Quantum Sky, so you are hearing that news here first.
Burns has one of the most interesting routes into the field I have come across: a PhD in pure mathematics, a self described diehard academic, then a move to Dell in 2020 that pulled him into quantum computing and infrastructure, and now a mandate to build a quantum practice from close to a blank page.
This episode explores why the old ten-to-fifteen-yeartimelines are being replaced by firm dates, what a serving federal customer base actually needs from quantum today, and why Burns believes the future belongs to subject matter experts who bring quantum into their own field, notjust to quantum engineers.
We discuss:
🛰️ The rebrand to Quantum Sky, and why the aperture is far wider than quantum computing alone
🧮 Burns' path from pure mathematics and academia into emerging technologyresearch at Dell
🗺️ Building a quantum practice from a blank page, and what belongs at the top ofthe list
🔐 Post-quantum cryptography, the recent US executive order, and cryptographic inventory as a starting point
📅 Why the language has shifted from "in five years" to "by2028," and what that accountability signals
🌍 Sovereignty, domestic capability, and why geography is becoming a moat for QPUvendors
📦 The Dell supply chain project, and why he embedded with the team for six months
🤝 Hiring for diversity of skill set, the Quantum Trainer role, and why you do not need a PhD to contribute
Who has been a guest on Beyond the Bit: Quantum Pathways
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jay Shah
John Riley III
Jannes Stubbemann
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YouTube views
291
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 60 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
81
Social presence
0
YouTube
64
Engagement
32
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Questions about Beyond the Bit: Quantum Pathways
Who hosts Beyond the Bit: Quantum Pathways?
Amir Rasool host the show. Published by Beyondthebit.
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