Before quantum computing emerges, the startup wants enterprises to already be implementing it.

Eighteen months after selling his startup to chipmaker AMD for $665 million, Finnish entrepreneur Peter Sarlin has stepped down as CEO of the company now known as AMD Silo AI. He currently serves as Chairman of two new ventures: NestAI, a physical AI lab, and QuTwo, an AI startup helping companies prepare for the era of quantum computing.

QuTwo, now fully funded by Sarlin’s family office PostScriptum, describes itself as “an AI laboratory for the quantum era.” But rather than waiting for quantum computing to mature, we are already working with enterprise customers. European fashion retailer Zalando is developing an AI tool designed to proactively suggest products and experiences beyond product search, which the two companies call a “lifestyle agent.”

QuTwo is built on the premise that AI is hitting an efficiency wall that quantum computing can ultimately help solve. But the company doesn’t have an estimate on when that will happen, Sarlin told TechCrunch. Instead, the startup is building QuTwo OS as an orchestration layer that allows enterprises to transition from traditional computing to quantum computing, leveraging hybrid computing in the process.

Sarlin, who through PostScriptum has invested in Finnish quantum companies IQM and QMill, is one of a growing number of investors who believe AI will outperform classical computers in a variety of industrial applications while alleviating its energy demands. But he also believes that early use cases will require mixed hardware environments and that enterprises will focus on business issues while QuTwo OS manages routing.

In that respect, the potential advantage of the middle ground, known as “quantum-inspired” computing, is that it is already viable today. Because it simulates quantum behavior while using classical hardware and addresses obstacles that still hinder quantum hardware. Meanwhile, QuTwo OS is designed to be flexible, supporting both quantum or non-quantum algorithms and chips.

The QuTwo team brings experience from both sides of the quantum-AI divide. On the quantum side, we have IQM co-founder Kuan Yen Tan and Antti Vasara, board member and chairman of SemiQon, a Finnish semiconductor startup focused on quantum chips. The corporate side is equally represented by Sarlin himself and Kaj-Mikael Björk, one of Silo AI’s former co-founders. Pekka Lundmark, former CEO of Finnish telecom giant Nokia, also joined QuTwo’s board.

In both areas, the team consists of more than 30 quantum and AI scientists, and Sarlin is clear about where the company stands. “We are building for the quantum world, but QuTwo is an AI company,” he said. This means QuTwo is “pushing AI workloads from classical to quantum.”

This also means that your customer base can be quite large. In addition to Zalando, QuTwo has launched a joint quantum AI research initiative with OP Pohjola, a leading financial services provider in Finland.

From the beginning, QuTwo has been commercially minded and already has “large design partnerships worth tens of millions,” Sarlin said. Design partnerships, where suppliers co-develop products with enterprise customers, are a way for QuTwo to know what customers expect when building products. It’s also a bet for companies looking to build an early foundation for when quantum computing arrives.