Lisa Lambert, the inaugural leader of the business consortium Quantum Industry Canada, has taken a new job at the US company IonQ.
The news: College Park, Maryland-based IonQ has announced the appointment of Lambert as its new vice-president of global strategy and managing director for Canada.
Lambert announced last week that she was stepping down from her role as the inaugural CEO of Canada’s primary quantum computing industry group at the end of the month to pursue a “new career opportunity,” but at the time did not give any more details.
From the source: At IonQ, Lambert “will help drive growth, strengthen strategic relationships, and expand opportunities for customers and partners across key sectors as we continue scaling IonQ’s business and expanding the reach of our full-stack quantum platform globally,” IonQ wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Following the thread: Founded in 2015 and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with a market cap of nearly $22 billion USD ($31 million CAD), IonQ provides a wide range of quantum-enabled services, including computing, networking, security, and sensing.
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The company holds an office in Toronto, having acquired the operating assets of Toronto-based Entangled Networks in early 2023. The acquisition acted as IonQ’s beachhead in Toronto, and would help it build large-scale quantum computers, the company said at the time. IonQ also joined Quantum Industry Canada under Lambert’s leadership in 2024.
Final thought: IonQ appears to be fond of Lambert’s relationship-building experience. The company noted that she helped establish Quantum Industry Canada as the national voice of Canada’s quantum sector and advanced the industry by working with business, government, and international partners. Despite Canada shovelling hundreds of millions into its quantum players, and the United States signing $2 billion in deals with its quantum companies, IonQ has yet to make the cut for a cheque from either.
Feature image courtesy Quantum Industry Canada.