This is why JPMorgan is hiring in quantum computing

JPMorgan is still building out its quantum engineering effort. As we've reported previously, the U.S. bank has a quantum engineering team run by Marco Pistoia, whom it hired from IBM as head of applied research and engineering in January. Pistoia is still recruiting and it's becoming apparent why.

JPMorgan is currently advertising for two applied research engineers in London to work on quantum computing, among other things, and for one in Glasgow. It's also looking for someone with 3+ years' experience of quantum computing specifically to join its research and development team working on quantum computing and human machine interfaces, based in New York.

Why is JPMorgan so interested in what seems to be a Byzantine area with little application in the real world? Precisely because quantum computing is creeping into use and does have real life use cases in banking. 

In its latest job ads, JPMorgan says it's interested in developing quantum algorithms that can be applied to artificial intelligence, optimization and cryptography. Earlier this month, it partnered with the Chicago Quantum Exchange, a quantum technology hub, and said that its research team is, 'actively working in the area of post-quantum cryptography.'

This makes sense. As professor Stephen Roberts at the Oxford Man Institute of quantitative finance pointed out a few years ago, once quantitative computers are widely used, existing methods of cryptography will become useless. JPMorgan is trying to get ahead of the curve. 

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