Show notes
What happens when you combine frontier AI, agentic systems, and quantum computing?In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, we chat with Mykola Maksymenko, co-founder and CTO of Haiqu, about how AI agents are dramatically accelerating quantum research and potentially scientific discovery as a whole.Maksymenko shares how an AI system was able to reconstruct months of his own PhD research in a fraction of the time, even identifying a bug in one of his formulas. He also discusses experiments involving genomics, molecular simulation, quantum chemistry, and condensed matter physics.The bigger question: do we really need to wait for fault-tolerant quantum computers with hundreds or thousands of logical qubits before quantum computing becomes useful?Maksymenko argues that useful quantum applications are already emerging today, particularly when AI agents help scientists discover algorithms, orchestrate workflows, and handle the complexity of working with noisy quantum hardware.We also explore the risks of increasingly capable AI systems, scientific guardrails, quantum utility versus quantum supremacy, and what happens when researchers can test ideas in a weekend that previously might have required months or years.Topics include:• Agentic AI for scientific research• Quantum utility vs. quantum supremacy• AI-assisted genomics• Quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics• Automating quantum software workflows• AI as a scientific collaborator and educator• The risks and guardrails of frontier AI• Why scientific discovery could accelerate dramatically00:00 — “I think AGI is here” 00:40 — Meet Mykola Maksymenko 01:01 — Why a quantum physicist started experimenting with genomics 02:18 — Reproducing years of research with AI and quantum computing 03:07 — The convergence of AI, agents, and quantum computers 04:26 — Are we entering the singularity? 04:45 — AI reconstructs six months of PhD research 05:28 — The risks of AI-assisted genomics and scientific discovery 06:46 — Pandora’s box and the race for frontier AI 07:02 — What researchers are doing with the technology now 08:29 — Can quantum computers already do useful work? 09:21 — From quantum supremacy to quantum utility 11:06 — Molecular dynamics and quantum chemistry 12:12 — The minimum viable product of quantum computing 13:00 — Why Haiku moved deeper into agentic AI 13:30 — How much faster can AI make scientific research? 15:47 — AI as a scientist’s educator and collaborator 16:51 — Running research experiments over a weekend 17:16 — What happens next for AI + quantum computing 17:38 — How AI agents operate quantum computers 18:59 — Closing thoughts