Team

CEO and Co-Founder

Prof. Jeremy O'Brien is co-founder and CEO of PsiQuantum. He has dedicated 25 years to the mission of building the world’s first useful quantum computer, having identified quantum computing as the most profoundly world-changing technology, due to its potential to unlock critical solutions to otherwise impossible problems.

Prof. O'Brien has published over 150 papers with over 38,000 citations (h-index 87); he demonstrated the first photonic 2-qubit logic gate, invented the field of integrated quantum photonics, co-invented the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), and implemented VQE on a photonic chip. Prior to founding PsiQuantum, he was Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering at Stanford and Bristol Universities, and Founding Director of the Centre for Quantum Photonics/QET Labs. He received his Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales and is an undergraduate and postdoc alumnus of the Universities of Western Australia and Queensland, respectively. He holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Emerging Technologies, and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics.

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Chief Architect and Co-Founder

Terry Rudolph is Co-founder and Chief Architect at PsiQuantum and invented the fusion-based quantum computing approach that PsiQuantum's quantum computer is based on. Terry did his PhD in theoretical quantum optics and held positions at the University of Toronto and Bell Labs before moving to Imperial College in 2003 where he became Professor of Quantum Physics in 2011. In the period 2004-2015 he wrote four academic papers founding a theoretical approach to photonic quantum computing that forms the basis from which PsiQuantum’s current architecture has been further developed. He also founded and then co-Directed for 7 years the UK’s first Centre for Doctoral Training, which graduated over 130 PhD students in the field of quantum information. His research receives more than 1,000 citations per year.

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Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder

Pete Shadbolt is Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of PsiQuantum. After earning his PhD in experimental photonic quantum computing from the University of Bristol in 2014, Pete was a postdoc at Imperial College researching the theory of photonic QC. During his time at Bristol, he demonstrated the first-ever Variational Quantum Eigensolver and the first-ever public API to a quantum processor. He has been awarded: the 2014 EPSRC “Rising Star” by the British Research Council; the EPSRC Recognizing Inspirational Scientists and Engineers Award; and the European Physics Society Thesis Prize.

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Chief Technologist and Co-Founder

Mark Thompson is Co-Founder and Chief Technologist of PsiQuantum, and has over 20 years’ experience in photonic and quantum technologies. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and a master's degree in physics from the University of Sheffield. He has held positions at Corning, Bookham Technology (the first silicon photonics start- up), and Toshiba (where he was part of setting up Toshiba’s silicon photonics program), and faculty positions at Cambridge University and Bristol University. He established and was Director of the Bristol Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training (QECDT), the Bristol Quantum Technology Enterprise Center (QuTEC) and QETlabs. He also has been awarded prestigious UK and European fellowships and prizes, and has more than 100 publications and patents.

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Chief Operating Officer

Fariba Danesh is the Chief Operating Officer at PsiQuantum, bringing over 30 years of experience in novel semiconductor product development. Prior to this role, she served as CEO and board member of Glo from 2010-2019. Glo is a venture-backed microLED display company using nanotechnology developed in Sweden to make the world’s first full RGB microLED small displays. Fariba has deep semi-conductor experience and during her tenure at Glo, built a team and a fab facility from the ground up which vertically integrated all aspects of the display development from epitaxy of chips to fully assembled display. Prior to Glo, Fariba held engineering and leadership positions at Avago Technology, Maxtor Technology, Finisar, Genoa, Sanmina and Conner Peripherals/Seagate Technology. As COO of Finisar Fariba led a workforce of 14,000+, whilst at Avago she had full P&L responsibility for the $400M/yr photonics business. Fariba holds a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Santa Clara University and an Executive MBA from Stanford University.

Chief Business Officer

Stratton Sclavos is the Chief Business Officer at PsiQuantum bringing over 35 years' experience as an entrepreneur, chief executive, venture investor and corporate board member. He served as Chairman and CEO of VeriSign Inc. from its formation in 1995 through 2007. Under his direction, VeriSign grew into a diversified corporation with over 4,000 employees and $2 Billion in revenues. Prior to Verisign, he held executive positions at Go Corporation, Megatest and MIPS Computers. Stratton also served as a Board Member at Salesforce (CRM), Intuit (INTU) and Juniper (JNPR). From 2008 to 2015 he was a partner at Radar Partners overseeing investments in Appurify, Dasient, Sencha and Duo Security (purchased for $2.3 Billion by Cisco Systems). He was also appointed to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and the DNI’s Senior Advisor Group.

Chief Financial Officer

Elliot Carpenter is the Chief Financial Officer at PsiQuantum, and has over 30 years of accounting, finance and business leadership in Silicon Valley. Throughout his career, Elliot has held executive positions, including as a CFO for public companies, overseeing treasury and M&A activities at billion-dollar technology firms. He has also contributed to private startups and mid-sized companies, where he led all aspects of financial management and fundraising initiatives. Elliot earned his CPA while working at a top-tier accounting firm, following his graduation from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Business Economics.