Meet the QSI team

Brian Lenahan

Founder & Chair, Quantum Strategy Institute

Brian Lenahan is Founder & Chair of the Quantum Strategy Institute, author of “Quantum Boost: Using Quantum Computing to Supercharge Your Business", writes extensively on quantum computing and artificial intelligence and is a quantum strategist, working with companies to design unique quantum roadmaps. He is a university instructor and former executive with a Top 10 North American Bank.

Danika Hannon

Deputy Head, IQSD Chair

Danika Hannon has worked internationally and domestically, for non-profits and global corporations and has been in the food and ag. industries, as well as finance and technology. Since 2018, she has been strategically moving into the quantum computing space. During that time, she: became a leader of the Minnesota Quantum Computing Meetup, completed a data science bootcamp, served on the Women in Quantum Advisory Board, volunteered for a quantum computing and AI startup called Boltz.ai and became a Relationship Manager with Cambridge Quantum Computing.

Matthew R. Versaggi

Head of Education

Matthew R. Versaggi is a senior leader in the AI space with Fortune-5 healthcare experience who possesses a unique blend of business, technology, entrepreneurial, and academic backgrounds; is an experienced public speaker, strategist and mentor; and has international business experience. Matthew has four university degrees and eight professional certificates, including four in the quantum computing space. He has also created an 8 1/2 month quantum training program for software engineers in the healthcare space.

Joe Ghalbouni

Head of Risk

Joe Ghalbouni has been an Associate Professor of Physics, Lecturer and Researcher in Quantum Computing, Information & Communication since 2013. His PhD thesis covered Quantum Key Distribution (QKD): Multiuser distribution of entangled photons pairs at telecommunications wavelength. Joe holds a Masters degree in Physics from University of Western Brittany and a PhD in Physics (with honors) from Telecom ParisTech.

Esperanza Cuenca Gómez

Head of Change Navigation

Esperanza Cuenca Gómez is a digital transformation enthusiast with more than 10 years of experience in banking and consumer finance industries, focused on defining how we do things differently (processes) and articulating how we enable systems and people to do those new things differently (change management). Quantum mechanics have always fascinated Esperanza, so in 2020 she decided to start studying quantum computing and communications. As an engineer, she sees applied science as a way to build new technologies, solve problems and, ultimately, contribute to society.

Ian Mason

Head of Cloud

Ian Mason is a business and technology strategist, program advisor, and content developer. He has spent more than two decades as a consultant, advising senior executives on corporate strategy, boards of directors on governance issues, and product management and IT teams on the design and delivery of complex technology-based services. Currently, he holds a Solutions Architect certification from AWS, an Azure Data Scientist certification from Microsoft, and is studying both machine learning engineering on Google Cloud and quantum computing through Azure and IBM. Complementing his strategy and technology work, Ian has equally deep experience in content and communications as a filmmaker, photographer, animator, graphic designer, editor, and journalist, helping numerous clients explain their strategies and ideas to customers, employees, executive teams, and board members.

Amrita Manzari

Head of AI & QML

Amrita Manzari has 7+ years of experience in Healthcare and Insurance Industry as an IT professional. She is currently working as Associate Manager Software Engineering in United Health Group. Her career has been more of a transformation journey, she started her career journey with Automation Engineer but with the passion to pursue research in Quantum Field, she switched to Quantum Computing. As part of her current role, Amrita is responsible for handling teams, designing software, working on strategy for modernization projects, research and development in Machine Learning and Product Delivery. She has diverse experience in the Insurance and Healthcare Industry with hands-on experience in multiple technology stacks.

Petra Söderling

Head of Government & Consortium Relations

Petra Söderling has over 20 years of experience in the telecom industry, having held key positions in standardization, open source, research, and product management at Nokia. She has an MBA from Helsinki University of Technology, and executive education from Harvard Business School and Stanford University. Being Finnish-American, she has been instrumental in creating the quantum ecosystem in Finland, and ramping up trans-Atlantic relationships in quantum since 2020.

Per Nyberg

Head of Integrated HPC & QC

Per Nyberg has three decades of experience in advanced computing leading organizations at the intersection of technology, market and business strategy. Per is currently Vice President of Strategic Markets and Alliances at Quantum Machines (QM), responsible for the development and execution of QM’s global growth strategies in the government, academic and commercial markets. In roles prior to joining QM, Per served as the Chief Commercial Officer at Stradigi AI, an AI SaaS platform provider, and as Vice President at the supercomputing leader Cray where his roles included responsibility for global commercial strategy and growth in the artificial intelligence, cloud, and industry vertical markets.

Anahita Zardoshti

Head of Industry Verticals

Anahita Zardoshti is passionate about understanding how cutting-edge technology can be used to drive innovation and deliver growth in various industries. She works in the insurance industry as a data scientist and previously worked in the Innovation team at Lloyd’s of London, where she was involved in horizon scanning for emerging risks and where she authored the Lloyd’s report on the impacts of quantum computing on insurance. Anahita is also a Leader at Quantum London, where she works to help communicate the business impacts of quantum computing to professionals across different sectors.

Mihaela Burcea

Head of Marketing

Mihaela is a marketing professional with a track record ranging from supporting start-ups in launching their brand strategies, to running digital advertising campaigns and creating testing frameworks for large international brands. As a Customer Experience Data Strategist, Mihaela has worked with top UK brands in the automotive, telco and retail industries, contributing to their strategic planning and leveraging of data, delivering cross-channel insights and participating in digital transformation projects.

John Barnes

Special Advisor to the Chair

John is a technology recruitment veteran, having spent several years engaging with a wide range of communities, organisations, and individuals to aid interaction, build strong interlinked networks, and advise on best practice strategies. With roles across multiple verticals combined with consistent interaction with people of all interests and aspirations, he has a unique vantage point to consult on strategy and work with stakeholders in quantum to achieve their ambitious goals. He has worked in the Quantum 2.0 arena since 2014 and is the founder of Entangled Positions, a pure-play quantum recruitment agency.