Can Quantum Computing Tame AI? Cybersecurity, Risk & the Middle Market | Mark Davis | EP12

1,000 days. That's enough time to transform a company, but not enough time to waste. Welcome to The 1,000 Day CEO, the podcast about decisive leadership, sustainable growth, and building a business that thrives beyond any one leader. Your host is Bill Canady. Let's make every day count.

Hello everyone. It's Bill Canady with The 1,000 Day CEO Podcast. It's great to be here with you today. We have Mark Davis. Maybe a little bit about Mark to start off with. Mark grew up in, uh, on a farm in South Carolina. At the age of 15, he began working with the national security and diplomacy matters in the quantum computing space. He's the inventor of the Quantum Dome, and that is value-added reseller to the American and British quantum techniques supporting the Golden Dome. And he holds the patent for nationwide desktop quantum computing, the Quantum Cube. He is the president of Quanta Diplomacy Foundation, which distributes media education, and quantum subsidies to middle market companies and family offices. Mark holds a triple doctorate from Oxford University in politics, economics, and ciphers with a focus on secure quantum key distribution. His goal over the next 10 years is to ensure every home in the United States and the United Kingdom have access to quantum security. Mark, it's great to have you on the show today. Wanna welcome you and, and thank you for joining us.

Thanks, Bill. Thanks for encouraging entrepreneurs across the country.

Folks, today we've got— if you've got questions about quantum computing, how it's gonna affect middle market companies and help protect this great nation of ours, Mark is here. So Mark, you know, we had a chance to check chat backstage. I thought I'd start with this question. So you described the culmination of 33 years of work. What did you see before the rest of the market saw it, and what kept you going?

I started with quantum computing in the Clinton administration when I got to work with Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Stratton Thurmond, Jesse Helms, Ted Kennedy, John Warner, and other senators to look at the way that the Appropriations and Armed Services and National Security Committees appropriated funds for quantum technology. And I saw a great opportunity to work with the science and the technology that had been in place since 1926, but that people were sort of afraid of because they were accustomed to classical computers that had really started in 1983 and 1984. And so I was fortunate. I got to work on the novel aspects of quantum computing with the United States and 56 of our allies over the last 33 years and discover ways that we would be able to make sure that the American and British people are able to cohesively roll out quantum computers in each home and each family office throughout both countries.

Holy cow. Well, I tell you, when you look at it today, what problem do you think that the Quantum Dome solves today that a conventional computer or can't get after? How does this make a difference for us? Like, bring this to the average business owner, how this is going to make an impact on them and what's happening.

Yeah, I mean, there are aspects of the Golden Dome, which is the defense technology utilized to protect the United States and our allies, and the Quantum Dome that are very novel because they are starting out to be used as a response to AI malware. And so the real problem that is pushing quantum forward is actually, we had 3 years ago, 50,000 attacks per year, and this year we had well over 500,000 AI malware attacks. And the only type of computer that's strong enough to deal with an autonomous AI or an autonomous robot Like a slaughterbot from one of our adversaries is the quantum computer. And so what we're able to solve today are niche issues in health, defense, armed services, governance, consumer goods, farming and irrigation, as well as nuclear power. We're able to focus in with quantum computers on very specific needs within the AI malware space. And then we're able to grow out of that and to impact larger groups of people in a positive way by preventing AI mishaps from happening. I don't think that we knew in 2000, even when I graduated from college, that we were going to have such a rabid response to AI. And so the only type of computing that would be able to heal the mistakes that we have with classical computing is for us to work with quantum computers to fix those problems.

Is there a real difference between quantum computer and cybersecurity? Is it kind of one and the same? Are they supportive? What's really the difference? How should we think about it?

Well, cyber is more, for example, around enterprise resource planning, like SAP and Oracle do cybersecurity and custom enterprise resource planning tools do that. There is a part of AI that has a defense and security component, and that is called generative AGI. And Those are very strong, but the problem is that we found in the past 30 days that AI is creating itself and it's attacking itself and attacking other branches like our waterways, our irrigation. An article is going to come out from my foundation. It's going to talk about our supply chain because we found that AI assaults the supply chain. So what classical computing and AI have in common is they are binary in their thinking. It's us versus them. So they have to have something to attack to move forward in order to compete. Whereas quantum computing can holistically think about a 360, and it can actually correct the thinking boxes, if you would, of an ERP or an AI. And so it can put it back on its normal course. So my dream, Back to your first question is that every household in America, every family office, every small business, every middle market business will have a cube, which I've designed, and they can plug into the Quantum Dome and they will be able to have access to what's called quantum information, which provides that holistic information in order to provide security and efficiency to the businesses at home. That's the goal.

So it'll be like a computer sitting on their desk or in their data center or whatever. And will that be casting kind of a net over their network to keep out the bad actors, or will it be basically repairing their system? How would that work?

Well, we've designed 119 citadels, directorates, and network syndicates that connect with the interface. And so Essentially, the citadels will all be in the United States and England, and they will be the 6 focus areas. And then the other 113 locations will have urban centers for quantum computers, and then they will have supporting syndicates that are training facilities for the quantum computer. And so every family might not want to spend between, you know, $80 and $110 million On a quantum computer. If you've got— if you have a city of 18 million people and they want to connect with the quantum computer and have the same information, the beauty of quantum computers is they can be sectioned because they're so powerful. They are powered by what's called qubits. And those qubits allow for the technology to be put into specific areas, whether that's a health and life science location for say Boston Scientific or for a nuclear power group like Duke Power or for an agricultural consumer goods company that works with Trader Joe's and Aldi's. So we can protect the supply chain and we can protect the defense and the security all from the same device. But what the Qube interface does is it plugs into the larger body of information and holistically corrects the AI malware misfunctions. So that security is provided throughout the nation.

When I first heard about quantum computers, which was years ago, it was kind of the AI before AI as we know it today. And then today we look at it and AI, you know, it's big in the media. We're all talking about it. We're all spending a lot of money on it for sure. But the idea is, does quantum do the same thing? Is this a thinking or learning type tool? Like, how will it stay ahead of AI or vice versa? What? What's driving each one of these tools and how will it win, if you will?

Well, AI is not human-powered anymore. As of the last 30 days, we've lost control of it and it is doing its own thinking. It may delete this interface that you and I are on, but Bill, it is a weak but stable tool. And so I believe that AI is going to go bust. And the reason is, is it's going to start to self-defeat itself. Whereas quantum always requires human interface and human guidance, and that will allow for quantum to be more stable. But right now, the biggest issue that we've had with quantum and the reason there's such a hefty cost is the cooling of it. Because the cooling devices for the computer, which looks like a chandelier, and the data storage for it are so vast and huge that it is really difficult to maintain the cool temperatures. But we've had amazing things that I never thought would happen in my lifetime that are keeping our technology cool. We've got new chips. We have new ways of managing the quantum computer with the interface. I could show you one of my cubes right now if you wanna see it.

Man, I'd love to see that.

So this is the cube backpack. It's about the size of my left torso. And this is how we share it with our clients. We have it packaged right now so it doesn't get damaged. So this is what it looks like. And it, it's meant to help the quantum computer, which is normally like the size of my office and my flat in DC. plus maybe the farm where I do my training. It's normally that large. But what this does is it simplifies the interface of the quantum computer so that the human being and our human beings that are getting the data or quantum information from it can do so cohesively. So we designed this about 6 months ago and have been trying it out in the field.

So when you say interface, Is that, for lack of a better term, kind of the gateway? Like you plug your computer, you plug it into your network, and that gets the information to the quantum computer. Is that what that means?

Yeah. Like my clients right now are, you know, they're very large multinational companies, but I know that the real change for America is whether a family, a family office, a family business will have access to that technology. So putting the standard operations together for the quantum computer is something I've specialized in, in the last 30 years. But my interest is being able to make sure that every family in the United Kingdom and the United States has access so that they can tap in. For the podcast today, I tried a couple of products that I use with Like other federal things, and I wasn't able to log in. So I found this Google device that one of my board members gave for me just for instances like this. And that's exactly this cube is the same size as this Google computer. And I hope within the next ten years—I'm 48 years old—so by the time I'm 58, I want it to be at the same cost as this. Google computer, like $1,200, so that a person in a family that wants to learn, students that want to learn, they'll be able to access the information. So it's a big drain considering the current cost that we have. But I believe that as we see AI kind of start to explode and then pop or bust, there will be a lot more affordability for us to be able to manage data information securely through quantum. that we might miss out on in AGI. But AI is the thing that's in vogue. I'm not saying that quantum is quite there yet, but it would be nice for us to see that AI can't become so rabid and so prolific that it becomes uncontrollable in the midst of humanity and other problems like nuclear proliferation, Sharing resources, conflicts, all of these things can be addressed in a way with quantum computing because quantum computing is 6-dimensional and the world that you and I are used to working in is 3-dimensional. So it's another realm of connection and fixing problems.

So you showed, and that was that the quantum cube you showed us or was that the gateway?

Well, that's the quantum cube. The gateway is a thing called Tackling. So Tackling is a device that we are perfecting with the government. And that's my present to myself is to get a sophisticated business partner to help me with the Tackling. And so that would allow for families within a certain circumference, like 45 miles of the Tackling device to be able to use the Cube for the interface. So that's an important distinction and I'm going to change the way I talk about it. Because you clarified that for me, is that the, the, the Qube is the device that sits at the house for the family to use, but the interface is actually our invention in the Tackling space, which connects that to the quantum computer.

So you showed us the, you know, your prototype here. How many, how many are operating out there today? You know, what, how much workload is it carrying on? Is it, is it performing to what you thought it would be? Where, where are you at in that journey?

Yeah, I mean, it, there are 47 builds that I've done in 30 years, 33 years. They're all working at military installations in the United Kingdom and the United States. I do have permission with some of our allies to apply the same technology if we use American parts and British parts to apply that to other countries this year for the first time. And there are 7 of those and I've got 9 federal builds. So it's 16. So my average has been between maybe 2 and 6 buildouts throughout my life. And you could say it's doubled. And that's why I need a business partner who is skilled to like manage those operations with me so that I can focus more on these types of conversations to educate people around thought leadership and the use of the technology. And he can help with the tackling and the implementation for the American people in the field.

Who's typically the economic buyer of these? Is it the governments or have you sold any industry or business yet?

Historically, it's federal governments.

I would think so, because you said the thing was, you know, $100 million or more for it. You know, the average business without, outside the power budget, Yeah.

So there's, I have a list. I've been able to, to assess the 500,000 hits in the United States, 50,000, and now just 3 years later, 500,000. They're primarily in nuclear power, irrigation, hospital systems, federal government agencies, and federal governance. They're to my knowledge, have been less hits in the state level. So my primary focus has been with the Air Force and with the federal government because that's where we've had the biggest attacks.

Mm-hmm.

But those other 3 or 4 areas that I just mentioned are hot on, you know, now. And we have rebranded to focus on the quantum security component because we, again, we didn't expect AI to malfunction so soon.

Well, I know I read in the news, I think it was OpenAI and others, that their chatbots have started, you know, kind of getting outside the businesses, starting to run their own, you know, their own programs, if you will. Yeah, it's a little scary when we start thinking about these things getting loose.

Yeah, it's scary, but we have an answer. Like, we've had an answer since 1926. My grandmother, October turns 100. She was born in 1926. I've always been fascinated with that year in American history as a year of great growth in terms of textiles, farming, soil conservation, because I come from a farming family, nuclear power, and the aspects of quantum. I don't know why humanity has certain technologies or commodities or things that are useful to us. And sometimes we don't tap into those until 100 years later. But the beauty is, is that it's been there just as long as my grandmother has been there. And, you know, she's the most vivacious soul that I know. And I think quantum technology and science is the most vivacious science. So we have an answer, Bill, to what you've just mentioned with the AI malfunctions. We have an answer to correct it. We don't have to take it out. We just have to redirect and take control of it. And so that's what the beauty of quantum does, is that it allows us to right those wrongs that are being done. Because you don't want to work for a business that's governed by a technology. You want to run with a business that's governed by humanity, right?

So do you see quantum being the manager of AI in a sense to keep it Within the guardrails, if you will?

Yes, sir. So my companies are called Quanta with an A because that's the plural form of quantum. And I, from this podcast, I'm going to rebrand how I talk at the beginning of each section as quantum management because that's exactly, yeah, that's exactly what quantum does is together with human beings, we can more effectively manage The AI malware problems. And I keep going back to AI because that's the major problem. Because if you think about it, our adversaries like China, Russia, Iran have used adversarial AI malware to cause complete havoc in our democracy. And the same thing has happened in the UK. And this is something that can be corrected and protected by quantum technology.

How does Quantum keep up with AI? Today you've got trillions of dollars going in infrastructure, learning. They, I've read that, you know, AI has already consumed the internet. Now they're consuming each other, you know, to get more information, alpha, which is what causes some of the hallucinations. How is quantum going to stay ahead of that so it can keep AI in check, or if you will, keep it within the bounds of what we're comfortable with?

Yeah. So quantum is 6-dimensional. And so it's all places at once. It's above, below, to the right, to the left, in front and behind. So quantum can corral, like when we herd cattle, you know, we have to put the cattle in the right path so that it will go in for the injections so that we can keep the herd healthy. And that's the same type of thing with quantum. Now, AI, on the other hand, is 2 and 3-dimensional. The worst AIs are 2-dimensional. They don't really have the ability to work with a 3D plane, and so they become bombastic and create a lot of havoc. The better ones are 3-dimensional, and they're able to think 3-dimensional and expedite human work. The problem is, is when an adversary gets a 3-dimensional type of AI and they interface that with an android or a slaughterbot, and then they create warfare and havoc that's not like known to humankind, then if you try to defend that with a secure AI, it's not going to work. You've got to have a mainframe capability that's 6-dimensional that can address, isolate, and shut down the threat. And that's what quantum does, is it prevents malware, from attacking the American people domestically and abroad. And that's why I've dedicated my life to this type of technology is because I believe it's the only way to secure the next generation of humanity in the United States and the United Kingdom.

These are lofty goals that, you know, have major implication. Bringing it down a little bit to the typical listener of this podcast, which is a business owner, CEO, things like that. How are they gonna participate in this? It feels like Given the size, the scope, the cost, that it's gonna be at a, at a global or national level. What is the, the CEO today, what should he be thinking about using the 80/20 principle? What 20% of his resources is he gonna be changing and having to dedicate to this, given he's already spending a lot of money on AI?

Well, I think out of the 20%, it's gonna take a hefty investment upfront to get the tackling, the cube, and the Dome working together, but I think that the beauty of that is if if the listener contacts me and my team, we have the ability to to work with subsidy programs in the United States as long as the organization works in agreement with the U.S. or British government, and we're able to deploy test models and prototypes in the quantum space. So. Your earlier question, Bill, was about who do I typically focus on? Particular groupings of people in 6 locations around the United States. So New York, Connecticut, and upstate New York, DC and West Virginia, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and a spot in Gainesville, the area around Houston, Chicago, and Seattle. Those are areas where I'm starting to do tests with middle market companies. And as long as the organization is within 1 or 2 hours, we can do tests together with the government of the quantum computer. That's probably where we'll be for the next 3 years. But once the test models are in place in the areas that we call our citadels, then we'll be able to reach larger groups of people across the country in more rural locations. Which would you know be something close to my heart because I grew up in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains on a cattle farm. So by the year 2029, we we will be able to roll out fully across the country, and for anybody that is a U.S. or British citizen that needs access by the year 2031, we can expect from 2031 to 2036 for the. interface to be available to every citizen.

So if you're a middle market firm and you want to participate in this, or even an individual, what does participation look like? What would you expect quantum computing to come in and do for your business or yourself?

I think the areas on the list that I see the most with middle market companies are companies that are innovating in the technology high-tech farming, construction, irrigation, and power spaces, and to a certain extent, health and life sciences. And what typically is novel about those companies is that they have the best, in my experience, patents in their particular niches. And so when I look at companies that really need the technology, The most, their patents and their way of living is maybe in jeopardy because for some reason, either a competitor or adversary has utilized AI in a way that's kind of ripped that out from under them. And so that would be an ideal way because our subsidy programs right now, we have a $91 billion subsidy program in the United States to help companies like that, that have been hit by adversarial AI malware. And we can certainly help them. One customer that I'm looking at in the middle market space right now had their banking and their charge cards basically taken by a foreign entity, and their payroll wasn't met because they were attacked by AI malware and their money was siphoned off to a foreign entity in another country. And so what we're doing with them is talking with them about whether we can work with the US government To make that possible, I'm just now moving into the middle market, so I think the problems will be slightly more nuanced and custom. And so I'm willing to to work with business owners and CEOs to look at creative ways to have the funding and the support to tap into the quantum computer capabilities that are available to them because each one may be slightly different than the more MNC. multinational corporation.

So what, you know, KPI, if you're familiar with that term, I'm a CEO, I've, I'm in a business in Houston. You mentioned, I've, I've been attacked. I, I, certainly my businesses have been attacked. All sensitive information got put out on the dark web. You know, there's a cost associated with that. Something feels like a black hole, uh, between trying to protect it. You, you, you can't fill that hole in, uh, no matter what you do. Is it gonna keep those bad actors away? And then there's a cost-benefit ratio, right? If I'm spending $100 million, it did not cost me $100 million to solve that issue. You know, so how would the ROI present itself in a way that makes you think this is the way I want to do it?

I mean, eventually where we will be is the, the cost will be something like $5,000 to $10,000 a month to tap into the Quantadome security. So it will be affordable to middle markets and homes. I don't know what the cost will be right now. Now to tap into that for the middle market amount. The great thing about early adopters is that you get the security early and that you're protected from the AI malware for the long haul as well as the bad actors. And you're doing it with federal support. So you're technically like an angel of the federal government at that point.

Wow. That's very interesting. Do you see that same opportunity in quantum physics or quantum computing?

Yeah. The largest buyer of quantum technology and user of it has been the federal government for the past 20 years. For the past 30 years, they've been, starting in 1992 to '96, they had the first novel concepts. The Golden Dome has quantum support. Technologically at the federal level. But the true benefit of it will be when all Americans have quantum technology throughout the country, and it's utilized as a way to provide security against the AI malware issues that we face. And they are able to transparently see information. The beauty about quantum is it provides transparent information that's not biased. AI information is typically biased because it has a way of looking at information as us versus them. So that's the big change or difference.

When you strip away the physics and the government piece of it and all that, what should a typical $100 million CEO do in the next 90, 180, 1 year?

What should they absolutely not spend any money on or pay any attention Well, what they can look at is we have our Citadel's media sources and our science available there. That's a way to look at the information and to begin to understand the trending that's taking place. And then at quantadome.com, we have examples of the buildouts of the technology. And so by looking at those 2 resources that are available today, The the CEO will be able to to garner what's going on with the dome and what's going on with the subsidy programs that we have. And then the next step is to reach out to me and the team and come up with a way for the business to be an early adopter, and we can provide a tiered approach where we look at you know basic API information, which is to stay like abreast of what's going on with the technology, and then we could. look at plugging in more with quantum and novel technology and then providing full security over time. I think that the key is to recognize that we don't have to deal with AI malware by using AI to try to fight AI. We've got a better tool than that at this point. And that's what is the primary objective of my life's work.

What would be your perfect customer or perfect target to reach out to? Who is best suited to handle this today?

Somebody that wants to address an AI problem, that wants to work with me for maybe 3 years as a test, is willing to try out different technologies in the quantum space, and is not afraid, you know, of working with the federal government to have the technology made available.

Yeah, this has been an amazing segment here today. I've learned so much about an area that I, you know, candidly don't have a great depth of knowledge. And I did Take an opportunity to read up on what's going on here. And today the AI and all the money going into that, it's kind of sucking all the air out of the room, right? So that's where lots of resources are going, a lot of people's time and quantum computing. And as you said, could be the guardrails, the manager for the AI to maybe keep us safe and keep us focused on it, but also be an enabler for future growth. So Yeah. Any last words, anything you'd like to leave our listeners with that can help them as they run their businesses and their lives be more productive and really take advantage of this movement?

Yeah. My life's work has been to make quantum computing available. Once the American people have the access that's required to correct the AI malware wrongs, I'm gonna be moving back into government. And I've just really enjoyed talking with you, Bill, because you've given me the ability to say things like quantum management. I think the biggest thing is, is that quantum computing is not something to be afraid of. It's something that we have available to us as a tool to protect us from some of the scary things that we're seeing happen. And it does require some grit and perspiration to work in this space. Typically, it takes about 6 weeks to deploy the technology in a way That's sufficient for the middle market business, but I am very dedicated to that and would love to have contact with folks that are wanting to be early adopters.

You wanna tell 'em one more time how to get ahold of you if they're interested in learning more?

Sure. Our main federal line is 202-424-0135. The best email for me is markreed@davis.com. at quantadome.com, and I look forward to talking with you about your interest in quantum and how I can support you.

Well, Mark, thank you so much for being with us today. It's been an enlightening segment. I've learned more here than I have in a long time. I can't thank you enough. Thank you again, and it's been a real pleasure.

Thank you, Bill.

Yes, sir. You've been listening to the 1,000 Day CEO with Bill Canady. Follow the show for more decisive leadership, sustainable growth, and strategies that build enduring businesses. Until next time, make every day count.