Q.ANT Hires IBM Veteran Joerg Behrend to Lead Hardware
Q.ANT has appointed Joerg Behrend, formerly an IBM manager, as Vice President Hardware. The original source of this information is a company press release. Behrend will report to CTO Bruno Spruth and will oversee the development of Q.ANT’s photonic processors, working across the company’s Stuttgart and Austin locations.
Background of Joerg Behrend
Q.ANT states that Behrend has over two decades of experience in processor and system technologies. Most recently, he served as Senior Manager for IBM Quantum at IBM Research & Development in Böblingen. In this role, according to the release, he managed R&D departments with up to 30 employees, focusing on cloud backend development, compilers, tooling, and runtime engineering.
He also held the position of Senior Software Engineering Manager at IBM. These career details are based on Q.ANT’s official announcement and its repost on LinkedIn, reflecting the hiring company’s perspective rather than independent verification from IBM.
His responsibilities will encompass chip technology, processor architecture, and ensuring the production readiness of what Q.ANT refers to as its Native Processing Units. This appointment marks the fifth leadership addition Q.ANT has announced in the past twelve months, following the hiring of VPs for software, operations, and commercials, as well as CTO Spruth.
Q.ANT’s Hardware Status
Q.ANT develops photonic processors, distinct from qubit-based quantum computers. CEO Michael Förtsch is quoted stating that “photonic processors are running in data centers today.” The company names the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, and IONOS as current users. However, the provided sources do not include processor specifications, performance metrics, or independent verification of these deployments, meaning the deployment claim remains solely from the company. Förtsch acknowledges that “the harder part starts now: building them reproducibly, at volume, and across multiple generations,” suggesting that the product is still in development.
Europe is actively seeking senior hardware talent in this field. The European Commission has included a Quantum Act in its 2026 work program, and The Quantum Insider reported on the region’s efforts to translate research into industrial applications.
This hire will gain significance only if Q.ANT delivers a system under Behrend’s leadership and provides supporting data.