While artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, quantum readiness is commanding equal attention as organizations confront the coming impact of post-quantum computing on security and trust. Enterprises are facing both technical hurdles and organizational shifts as they prepare for the cryptographic transition, and those who move early are setting the pace.

Leaders across technology and security stress that preparation is not just about swapping algorithms but about cultivating agility, building inventories and demonstrating resilience. These efforts demand visibility into cryptographic assets, a roadmap for prioritization and the ability to adapt quickly as standards evolve, according to Luke Valenta (pictured, center), systems engineer, cryptography, at Cloudflare Inc.

Clouflare’s Luke Valenta discusses collaborating with others and moving everyone forward at the same time when it comes to quantum readiness.

“At CloudFlare, we care deeply about advancing privacy, security and performance for everybody on the internet,” Valenta said. “We didn’t just start early with some secret projects … we’ve been sharing our journey openly from the start. I think it’s just been a matter of collaborating with others and moving everyone forward at the same time.”

Valenta was joined by Deepika Chauhan (left), chief product officer of DigiCert Inc., and Martin Reilly (right), digital identity offering manager at DXC Technology Co., as they spoke with theCUBE’s John Furrier for the DigiCert World Quantum Readiness Day event, during an encore broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how enterprises are tackling the challenges of quantum readiness, from building cryptographic inventories to adopting post-quantum cryptography and educating organizations at scale. (* Disclosure below.)

How quantum readiness is reshaping enterprise security

For many enterprises, the starting point is becoming their own first customer to pressure-test solutions and identify challenges before clients face them. This “customer zero” approach ensures real-world insight and builds credibility when advising customers on the path ahead. DXC Technology embraced this model across its global workforce, according to Reilly.

“By being our own customer zero, that gave us the learnings and insight and discoveries to build that framework which we can then apply to our customers and use that to build the infrastructure they need to take themselves forward based on our learnings,” he said.

Another dimension of quantum readiness lies in education at scale. Organizations must bring sales, pre-sales and technical staff up to speed on cryptography’s role in a quantum world, a task made more complex by the rapid rise in customer awareness. This shift has transformed once-niche conversations into daily boardroom discussions, Reilly explained.

“That’s created a challenge for us in terms of educating a lot of staff quickly on the impacts of quantum computers to cryptography,” he added. “We’ve got to educate our staff in the technology and to build that awareness of quantum computing and how to get ready for a world with quantum computers.”

Technical obstacles remain daunting, particularly as enterprises navigate the rollout of larger key sizes and new algorithms. Compatibility issues with existing infrastructure, from middle boxes to servers, can slow progress. Yet companies such as CloudFlare have pushed through these roadblocks with careful testing and collaboration across vendors, according to Valenta.

“By the end of this year, we actually expect that a majority of human-initiated connections at Cloudflare will be protected with post-quantum encryption,” he said. “It slowed down the post-quantum encryption rollout quite a bit. But with careful rollouts and communication with vendors to fix all these bugs, we’ve gotten to a really good place.”

The path forward also involves motivating customers to begin their transitions, even when the ecosystem feels incomplete. Vendors are embedding post-quantum cryptography into platforms while guiding enterprises on creating cryptographic inventories and assigning ownership to assets. These steps provide a foundation for automation and long-term agility, Chauhan noted.

“The complexity of creating the cryptographic inventory cannot be overstated,” she said. “You can start choosing the lowest risk applications as you’re building the inventory and start transitioning.”

Stay tuned for the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the DigiCert World Quantum Readiness Day event.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the DigiCert World Quantum Readiness Day event. Neither DigiCert Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE