In an Age of Deep Tech, The City Summit Bets on Human Connections

Insider Brief

• The sixth annual City Quantum & AI Summit will bring leaders from technology, defense, finance, government and research to London’s Mansion House on Oct. 7.

• The program will examine quantum and AI applications and risks across cybersecurity, finance, life sciences, space and national security.

• The summit will emphasize plain-language discussions, cross-sector networking and governance for technologies developing faster than existing institutions and regulations.

• Images: Paulina Roots Photography

The technologies changing defense, medicine and finance are advancing faster than the institutions expected to manage them. Getting the right people in the same room is a critical step toward optimizing the good that these technologies can do, while minimizing potential adverse effects.

The sixth annual City Quantum & AI Summit is aimed at bringing those people – military leaders, technology executives, researchers, investors and policymakers – to the Mansion House in London on Oct. 7. The one-day event is organized around the theme “Connections in Chaos.”

Karina Robinson, CEO of Redcliffe Advisory and founder of the summit, said the theme reflects a loss of predictability in international affairs, compounded by the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the emerging possibilities of quantum technology.

“The modicum of predictability that existed in world affairs a decade ago has vanished,” said Robinson. “How to cope? Develop personal connections. The Summit’s focus has always been to create networks across countries and across sectors. It is the best source of innovation and, in our age of AI, the last refuge of humanity.”

The summit’s program treats those human connections as practical infrastructure. It brings together industries that face related technological and security challenges but often operate separately. Defense officials will meet quantum and AI executives. Medical researchers will discuss computing with technology specialists. Investors and financial executives will examine how companies can move from research to commercial deployment.

According to Robinson, the objective of the summit is not simply to present new technology, but also help decision-makers understand how quantum and AI could affect their organizations, even if they lack scientific or engineering backgrounds.

Defense Beyond the Battlefield

Defense will open the program, reflecting the growing role of advanced computing in national security.

A panel titled “Safety and Security in Troubled Times” will be chaired by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, former chief of the Defence Staff. Scheduled participants include Enrique Lizaso, co-founder and CEO of Multiverse Computing; Tony Lowe, CEO of quantum-sensing company Delta.g; Jeanette van Halteren, Managing Consultant at Thales; and Dr Ben Tallis, Head of Policy & Analysis at defense technology company Helsing.

The discussion will extend beyond weapons and conventional military operations to threats against digital infrastructure. Cyberattacks can disrupt communications, financial services, energy networks and public agencies without crossing a physical border.

“Defence is a clear example of the Summit’s theme,” said Robinson. “The panel is entitled Safety and Security in Troubled Times because we aren’t just talking about tanks and drones and territory, but about defending ourselves from cybersecurity attacks which can bring society to a standstill. We also have a Qnote from NATO’s Assistant Secretary General, Jean-Charles Ellerman Kingombe. The death of NATO has been much spoken of lately. It is still alive and kicking, and an indication that organisations to connect countries have value.”

Quantum computing adds urgency to the cybersecurity discussion. Large, sufficiently capable quantum computers could eventually defeat several forms of encryption now used to protect government, corporate and personal information. Governments and businesses are therefore beginning to adopt post-quantum cryptography, a new class of security methods designed to withstand attacks from both conventional and quantum computers.

AI presents a more immediate set of opportunities and risks. Defense organizations are already exploring its use in intelligence analysis, logistics, cybersecurity and planning. The same tools can also make cyberattacks faster and more difficult to detect.

Ellerman Kingombe, NATO’s assistant secretary general for innovation, hybrid and cyber, is scheduled to deliver an address on cyber defense in the quantum and AI era. The appearance continues a longstanding relationship between the summit and NATO.

Credit: Paulina Roots Photography

Connecting Science With Capital

The program will also examine whether financial markets and institutions can provide the patient capital required by quantum and other deep-technology companies.

These businesses often face a difficult path to market. They may need years of research, specialized equipment and highly trained workers before producing meaningful revenue. That model does not always fit the short development cycles associated with conventional software startups.

Dame Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, and Emily Turner, CEO of HSBC Innovation Bank UK, are scheduled to take part in a panel on financing innovation. U.S. venture investors are also expected to participate.

The session will consider how banks, venture firms and public markets can support companies as they progress from scientific research to products and commercial operations. It also places finance within the summit’s wider theme. Scientists may develop the technology, but investors, corporate customers and public institutions determine whether it can reach the market at scale.

Robinson said identifying companies early has helped sustain the summit over six years. Previous programs featured executives from Oxford Quantum Circuits, Nu Quantum and Multiverse Computing when the companies were considerably smaller.

The setting – the Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London – adds another connection between old and new forms of commerce. It has long served as a center for business and civic events.

“The Mansion House is a palace with glittering chandeliers and vast columns,” said Robinson. “Over the centuries it has been a centre of commerce and deal-making. It provides a unique and contrasting backdrop to frontier technology.”

The summit will open with remarks from Alderman Bronek Masojada, who is expected to become Lord Mayor, followed by Robinson.

From Life Sciences to Space

Robinson pointed to life sciences and space as two areas where the summit will emphasize the constructive uses of AI and quantum technology.

“I am hugely looking forward to the Space panel, in association with Farnborough International Airshow,” said Robinson. “Their CEO, Gareth Rogers, will chair it. There will certainly be positive news from the panellists about their advances. The other panel that will focus on positive disruption is the Life Sciences one. Here the intersection of Quantum and AI will figure prominently.”

The life sciences panel will include Dr. Lara Jehi, chief research information officer at Cleveland Clinic; Sergii Strelchuk, Lead Researcher on quantum at Wellcome Sanger Institute; and Anthony Rowe, vice president of Onyx Research at GSK.

AI is already used to analyze medical information, identify patterns in biological data and assist researchers searching for drug candidates. Future quantum computers could add new tools for simulating molecules and chemical reactions, although the systems available today remain limited.

Ashley Fieglein Johnson, president and chief financial officer of Planet; Will Whitehorn, chair of Seraphim Space Investment Trust; and Phil Cooper, commercial lead for aerospace, satellite and defense at Amazon Web Services, are scheduled to participate in the space panel. 

It will be chaired by Gareth Rogers, CEO of Farnborough International Airshow, one of the biggest trade shows in the world, which brings together defence and aerospace every two years.

The discussion is expected to examine the growing connections among satellites, cloud computing and AI. Spacecraft generate large amounts of information that must be processed, transmitted and converted into useful observations for businesses and governments.

Another featured session, called “Entangled Exchange,” will bring together Gerald Mullally, CEO of Oxford Quantum Circuits, and Nic Harrigan, quantum manager at Nvidia. The conversation will explore the relationship between quantum computing and AI.

AI is increasingly being used to design, calibrate and operate quantum hardware. Researchers are also investigating whether future quantum systems could assist with selected AI, simulation and optimization tasks. The two technologies are therefore developing as parts of a broader computing system rather than as isolated fields.

Plain English for Complex Technology

Making those subjects accessible remains a central part of the summit’s approach, Robinson said. Its intended audience includes board members, investors, bankers and defense executives who need to understand the business and strategic implications without receiving a technical lecture.

“‘No lingo, no jargon, plain English only,’ is our strap line,” said Robinson. “We set up the Summit to engage the non-technological, non-scientific public in the exciting – and at times scary – developments in Quantum & AI. Board members, non-tecchie investors, bankers and defence executives all appreciate the event as a way to understand at a macro level technologies that are relevant to their organisations or could be interesting investment opportunities. Words like entanglement, superposition or inference are prohibited on pain of death!”

The program will include a special reception with Sir Peter Knight, an influential figure in the development of the United Kingdom’s quantum research program. Robinson said the reception will recognize his contribution to the country’s position in quantum science.

Governance and ethics will also form part of the event. An invitation-only dinner sponsored by Clifford Chance will feature a discussion between Roman Orús, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Multiverse Computing and a member of the United Nations Independent Scientific Panel on AI, and Thore Graepel, a machine-learning professor at University College London and former distinguished research scientist at Google DeepMind.

Jonathan Kewley, chair of Clifford Chance’s global tech group, will moderate this conversation, examining how institutions can develop ethical and governance systems for technologies whose capabilities are evolving more quickly than many existing rules.

“One of our past sponsors said the Summit combined ‘a super power-networking platform and a vital source of information exchange on the mega-trends of our time’. We are well set to repeat the winning formula this year!” said Robinson. 

To register, please click here.

The City Quantum and AI Summit 2025 Videos

Defence Panel Discusses How to Bring Quantum & AI to Bear in a Hostile World

Insider Brief

• Senior defense leaders and technologists at The City Quantum & AI Summit in London said quantum and artificial intelligence will be decisive in maintaining NATO’s strategic advantage amid rising geopolitical tensions.

• Panelists including representatives from Multiverse Computing, Aquark Technologies, BAE Systems, and MBDA highlighted how quantum sensing, AI assurance, and collaboration between startups and defense contractors are reshaping deterrence and resilience.

• Speakers warned that Europe’s quantum ambitions are constrained by funding and regulation, emphasizing the need for faster innovation, stronger public-private partnerships, and sustained defense investment before it is too late.

At a time when technology defines national power, senior defense leaders and technologists say quantum and artificial intelligence could prove decisive in maintaining strategic advantage across the NATO alliance. 

Speaking at The City Quantum & AI Summit’s defense panel discussion chaired by General Sir Patrick Sanders, the high-level defence panel explored how quantum sensing, AI assurance and public-private collaboration are reshaping deterrence and resilience in an increasingly hostile world.The summit, one of the premier summits bringing together Quantum, Defense and the Financial Sector, was celebrating its Fifth Anniversary in London.

General Sanders, who led the discussion,  framed the debate with a historical perspective. Drawing on thinkers from Gramsci to Kissinger, he warned that nations and institutions risk “a strange defeat” when they fail to adapt to technological and ideological shifts. He argued that defense organizations must avoid this fate by embracing innovation at speed:

To that end, Sanders convened four leaders working at the frontiers of quantum and AI transformation: Enrique Lizaso of Multiverse Computing, Andrei Dragomir of Aquark Technologies, Rob Flanders of BAE Systems, and Edwin Bowden-Peters of MBDA.

A Dual Challenge: Competing and Securing

Rob Flanders, Head of Threat and Incident Response at BAE Systems, described a defense environment shaped by what he called a “dipolar threat landscape.” He pointed to active conflict on NATO’s borders and long-term strategic competition with China as defining pressures.

“So we’re faced with a literal war on the border, combined with a much longer term geostrategic threat that essentially sits behind lots of the technologies that we’re looking at, discussing and adopting today,” said Flanders. “So I think it’s from our perspective, very much a dipolar threat landscape that we need to be aware of and be concerned about.”

Flanders said that emerging capabilities like AI-assisted quantum systems demand rigorous assurance before being fielded. “In defense, high assurance isn’t optional,” he added, explaining that engineers must know the provenance of data that trains AI systems.

 “If you put garbage in, you might well get garbage out – and that’s the last thing you want on a strategic program,” Flanders added.

Quantum Sensing and the Return of Deterrence

For Andrei Dragomir, founder and CEO of Aquark Technologies, quantum sensing is already transforming how NATO nations approach navigation, timing, and infrastructure resilience. His company, the first quantum investment of the NATO Innovation Fund, builds compact cold-atom clocks and sensors that work in GPS-denied environments.

Dragomir said that the key advantage of quantum sensing is its ability to “collect good data rather than bad data” – eliminating noise at the source rather than filtering it afterward. That accuracy, he argued, underpins both deterrence and resilience.

“So, having that technology and using it in a proper way can definitely be like the next bow and arrow of defense,” said Dragomir. “It’s also an indirect capability, where if you can navigate in GPS denied environments, eventually your enemy is going to stop spoofing your GPS, because it’s pointless, and therefore you can still rely on the existing infrastructure that you would otherwise have relied on today, and I think it’s going to have a huge impact.”

He forecast that deployable quantum navigation systems could begin scaling within 12 to 36 months, emphasizing collaboration as essential to success.

“I think it’s collaboration that is absolutely essential at this point in time,” said Dragomir. “There’s no single player that can build towards a vision like this by themselves. We need to have our doors very, very open.”

Europe’s Quantum Investment Gap

Enrique Lizaso, CEO and co-founder of Multiverse Computing, offered a candid view of Europe’s position in the quantum race. His firm develops hybrid quantum-AI algorithms for banks, defense manufacturers, and governments. Lizaso argued that Europe’s problem is not talent or ideas, but financing and regulation.

“We have the technology, maybe even better,” said Lizaso, adding, “But the way to convert – to transform – that into something which is more than that, by which I mean create companies that are big enough – is a different way. This is a financial problem at the very, very, very core of the situation, particularly in Europe.”

He also pointed to new defense applications of AI model compression, including lightweight multimodal neural networks that can run on small devices and recognize objects in the field. However, he warned that overly restrictive data-use rules could delay such innovations.

Bridging the Gap Between Labs and Battlefields

Edwin Bowden-Peters, UK Technology Watch Lead at MBDA, underscored how innovation is accelerating beyond traditional defense boundaries. “Access to technology has been completely democratized,” he said, noting that tools once confined to military labs are now commonplace in consumer electronics.

MBDA, which has invested directly in Aquark, is testing new models of collaboration with startups. Bowden-Peters recalled that Aquark caught his team’s attention when they demonstrated a ruggedized quantum device that could be carried rather than confined to a lab bench.

“They cared about it being ruggedized and real world and so immediately we knew that they cared about the same things as us,” Bowden-Peters said. “And so then what we did is we funded an experiment, and we said, can we push this further?”

He added that defense must increase its risk appetite for performance — but never at the expense of safety. “If you come second in war, someone doesn’t go home,” he said. “That’s why we have to test to extremes.”

Investing Before It’s Too Late

General Sanders closed with a reminder that defense spending is not an indulgence but an insurance policy. In 1936, he noted, the U.K. spent 2.9% of GDP on defense; by 1939, that figure had risen to 10%, and by 1945, to 50%.

“The sums we’re talking about today  – half a percent, one percent of GDP  – are nothing,” he said. “Prevention is a hell of a lot cheaper than cure.”

The City Quantum & AI Summit - Race for Growth

Q&A: The Race for Growth — Five Years of The City Quantum & AI Summit

Editor’s Note: Over the last five years, The City Quantum and AI Summit, which takes place in the Mansion House in the heart of the City of London, has earned a reputation as a quantum conference that not only keeps its finger on the pulse of the rapidly emerging quantum technology landscape, but also one that provides an accessible forum for the field’s diverse community. Celebrating the UN’s International Year of Quantum, the Fifth Anniversary Summit will take place on October 8, 2025. Here, we chat with Karina Robinson, CEO of Radcliffe Advisory and the founder of this summit, to learn a little bit more about the upcoming 2025 The City Quantum and AI Summit, as well as add context to the fifth anniversary of one of quantum’s marquee events..

This year’s Summit is themed “Race for Growth.” What does growth mean in the context of quantum and AI, and why is now the moment to focus on it?

Our democracies are under threat from external sabotage, misinformation and governmental inability to deliver. The only way to avoid falling into the lure of the populists is for our economies to grow. Harnessing Quantum and AI is a way of achieving productivity gains and revenue increases. 

To celebrate its Fifth Anniversary, the Summit is publishing Race for Growth, a report with contributions from CEOs, Chairs, and other board members on how to boost our economies through Deep Tech and international collaboration. 

The speaker lineup this year includes more CEOs from financial and professional services than ever before. What message does that send about where quantum and AI are heading? 

Board members of financial and professional services are aware that, generally, they lack enough knowledge of how Quantum and AI will disrupt their companies and sectors. That awareness has been growing over the last few years. By insisting on the Summit’s principle of ‘no lingo, no jargon, plain language only,’ top executives are comfortable talking and learning publicly about Deep Tech’s impact.

Geopolitical shifts have reshaped the global landscape. How do international tensions and alliances affect the collaboration — or competition — in deep tech sectors like AI and quantum? And how does the Summit expect to navigate these new waters? 

The City Quantum & AI Summit will walk through the complex, evolving geopolitical maze with a light step! We have companies from the US, Europe, the UK and Taiwan present. The Trump presidency has upended traditional alliances, but collaboration is still a pre-requisite. We are especially focused on the UK and the EU working together more closely, with the US and democracies like Australia and Japan involved.

Defence and finance are rarely seen on the same stage, but you’ve made that blend a defining feature of the Summit. What’s the logic behind that mix? 

There are two reasons for the unique mix.  From the moment Ukraine was invaded by Russia three years ago it became obvious that, firstly, we needed to fight for our democracies rather than take them for granted, and secondly, that defence spending would accelerate exponentially. This was a great, albeit tragic, opportunity to advance the science. The results will be dual-use applications – from logistics to navigation – on a par with what came out of the Apollo Space Mission. 

Additionally, finance is a pre-requisite for firms on the edge of innovation, while financiers need to be exposed to investing opportunities. 

The Summit was built on three founding principles: no jargon, gender-balanced panels, and accessibility. In an era of accelerating complexity, are those principles more relevant than ever?

In this day and age it is indispensable to be understood by those outside your group. Gender-balanced panels are even more crucial today than they were five years ago, when the Summit began. The backlash against the excesses of woke politics is being used as an excuse to undermine basic Diversity & Inclusion and that needs to be combatted. Lastly, the Summit is streamed for free and all panels are then posted on social media. 

How does the historic setting — the Mansion House and the presence of the 696th Lord Mayor — shape the tone and ambition of the Summit? 

It is great fun to host a conference on breakthrough Quantum & AI in a historic palace with gold table-settings and chandeliers-a-plenty, rather than the usual soulless conference centre! On a more serious note, the Mansion House’s convening power is legendary, and key to attracting senior leaders from a wide variety of sectors who are open to solving the world’s problems. The halls of the Mansion House represent the historic location where top financiers have met for generations to finance world trade and innovation, and is the perfect setting to combine both them and the future leaders of technology and science under one roof.

What role do you see for the UK, and The City in particular, in driving international leadership in deep tech over the next five years?

The City of London has been at the forefront of financing progress for centuries. This Summit keeps the flame alive!

Finally, with tech leaders, financial giants, and defence strategists all under one roof, what would you like attendees to walk away thinking, feeling, or doing differently?

The outcome is all about cross-sectoral collaboration and cross-national collaboration, both in finance and defense. I hope all of us joining together at the Summit, be it in person or online, are able to see the growth potential of connecting with people in all fields.

What have you been most proud of about previous iterations of the Summit?

I am most proud of bringing together such diverse sectors. And when people tell you they found a job, an investing opportunity, or funding for their company at the Summit, I couldn’t be happier!

Current City Quantum Agenda