SAS launches Quantum Lab as firms weigh AI barriers

SAS has released survey findings on barriers to quantum AI adoption and outlined a new product, SAS Quantum Lab, which is due to become available to SAS Viya customers in the fourth quarter.

The survey of more than 500 global leaders across industries suggests a shift in what is slowing adoption. In 2026, respondents ranked uncertainty around practical, real-world uses as the main barrier, ahead of high implementation costs, a lack of trained personnel, limited knowledge or understanding, the limited availability of quantum AI tools and unclear regulation.

That marks a change from the previous survey wave, when cost was the main obstacle and lack of understanding ranked second. The latest results suggest companies remain interested in quantum AI but are increasingly focused on whether it can solve concrete business problems.

Quantum AI refers to the use of machine learning algorithms on existing quantum hardware, often alongside conventional computing in a hybrid model. SAS argues that many business and industrial workloads fall between purely classical and fully quantum approaches, making a split of tasks between the two more practical in the near term.

Survey respondents identified a wide range of possible applications, including fraud detection in financial services, real-time optimisation of 5G network traffic, molecular simulation and drug discovery, supply chain distribution and logistics, predictive modelling for customer behaviour, and training large language models for natural language processing.

Product launch

SAS Quantum Lab is positioned as a workspace where customers can test and compare classical, quantum and hybrid approaches to specific use cases. It is intended both for specialists already working in the field and for users without a background in quantum physics who want to explore whether the technology is relevant to their organisations.

Planned features include side-by-side comparison of results from classical, quantum and hybrid methods for industry use cases. SAS also said current testing has shown more than 100 times speed improvement and 99% cost savings, though it did not provide further detail on the workloads, benchmarks or customer environments behind those figures.

The company also plans to include a virtual tutor designed to answer questions, provide sample code and suggest next steps for users learning the field. That reflects one of the survey's findings: a shortage of trained personnel remains among the leading constraints on adoption.

Bill Wisotsky, Principal Quantum Architect at SAS, said organisations want to build expertise and protect their options as the technology develops.

"Organisations of all sizes are eager to develop intellectual property - their original, patented approach to quantum AI - so they'll be ready as the technology comes of age," said Bill Wisotsky, Principal Quantum Architect, SAS. "Despite continued strong interest, leaders are understandably proceeding with caution, and they don't want to go all-in on expensive quantum investments they fear may not result in worthwhile use cases and solved problems.

"SAS is working to level the playing field, establishing real-world use cases for today, and ensuring that customers can get a piece of the quantum pie tomorrow."

Market caution

The findings come as quantum computing remains at an early commercial stage, with many companies trying to judge when the technology will move from experimentation to regular operational use. SAS said some market observers expect the hardware and supporting supply chain to be ready for wider production use by the early 2030s, but argues that organisations can start exploring practical applications now through hybrid approaches.

Amy Stout, Head of Quantum Product Strategy at SAS, linked the survey results to the company's decision to develop the new offering.

"This survey illuminates what SAS experts were already seeing in the market: that leaders are excited to use quantum, but the barriers to entry have been too high, and that requires a solution," said Amy Stout, Head of Quantum Product Strategy, SAS. "SAS is excited to give a sneak peek of SAS Quantum Lab, a hands-on playground to learn and innovate for real-world ROI."

The survey suggests that, for many executives, the issue is no longer just the cost of access to quantum systems. The larger question is whether organisations can identify business cases that justify investment, build internal skills, and navigate a market where tools and regulatory frameworks are still developing.

SAS's list of hoped-for uses shows where companies believe value may emerge first: industries with large, complex optimisation problems, heavy simulation workloads, or machine learning tasks that are costly and time-consuming on conventional systems. Those are also areas where vendors have increasingly focused their early commercial messaging as they seek to shift the discussion from theoretical advantage to measurable operational gains.

Wisotsky said customers are looking for a practical route into the field rather than a wholesale shift in infrastructure. "If you're ready to explore quantum AI, we're ready to work with you," he said. "Bring your ideas, and our experts will help determine if and how quantum AI can be incorporated in ways that are valuable, safe and sensible."