JPMorgan Poaches State Street’s Quantum Whiz Rob Otter to Spearhead Cutting-Edge Computing Research

Wall Street's quantum arms race heats up as JPMorgan snags top talent from rival State Street.

The move signals big banks' growing obsession with quantum advantage—because apparently blockchain wasn't disruptive enough for their taste.

Otter's team will chase quantum breakthroughs while traditional finance keeps pretending to understand DeFi.

Because nothing says 'innovation' like a megabank spending millions to crack problems that crypto solved years ago.

JPMorgan replaces quantum research heads amid tech pivot

JPMorgan’s applied research group was tasked with exploring how new technologies could help solve real problems in finance. That included research into quantum computing, quantum networking, crypto-related systems, computer vision, and network tech. Marco had been running that group since he was brought in from IBM, where he was known for racking up hundreds of patents.

Rob is stepping into that role at a time when interest in quantum computing has gone mainstream. Companies like Alphabet and IBM are racing to build quantum machines that can outperform today’s traditional systems.

Meanwhile, smaller firms like D-Wave and Rigetti Computing have seen their shares pop thanks to growing interest in the tech, even though practical applications are still a long way off. Quantum is being explored for use in finance, drug development, materials science, and more.

JPMorgan had been vocal about the strength of the team it built under Marco. According to a 2023 company bio, Marco held at least 270 patents and had earned IBM’s “Master Inventor” title, given only to those who consistently file valuable patents.

His deputy, Charles, had led the charge on quantum encryption and secure messaging systems that were being tested to prevent any future security threats to the bank’s data.

Rob’s appointment was shared internally through a memo sent on Monday. There was no press release. No public briefing. Just a direct swap at the top of one of JPMorgan’s most ambitious research efforts. The bank hasn’t commented on why Marco and Charles left or what changes will follow next.

For now, the only thing that’s clear is this: JPMorgan is putting Rob back in the seat and keeping its foot on the gas in the quantum computing race.

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