Who’s News: Strategic Leadership Appointments at Infleqtion, Quantinuum, IonQ, and Xanadu

Who’s News: Strategic Leadership Appointments at Infleqtion, Quantinuum, IonQ, and Xanadu Infleqtion has appointed Colin Sullivan MBE as Managing Director, UK. Sullivan, a former Royal Air Force Deputy Force Commander and UK National Air and Space Delegate to NATO, brings decades of front-line military and strategic defense experience. He will lead Infleqtion’s UK operations as the company prepares for its upcoming public listing via a merger with Churchill Capital Corp X. His leadership is expected to accelerate the transition of neutral-atom quantum computing and sensing from research to operational deployment. The full announcement is available here. Quantinuum has welcomed two senior leaders to its marketing and quantum ecosystem teams: Lawrence Schwartz joins as Chief Marketing Officer. Schwartz brings over 20 years of global B2B marketing leadership, with a track record of growing high-margin businesses from $100M to over $1B. Most recently at Aspen Technology, he led major company repositioning efforts that significantly increased brand preference and market share. At Quantinuum, he will lead global brand and go-to-market strategies as the company scales its hardware and software portfolio. His welcome announcement is available here. Vincent Anandraj has been promoted to Senior Director, Quantum Ecosystems. Anandraj will focus on scaling partnerships across government, industry, and academia to accelerate the practical adoption of quantum computing. His promotion details are available here. IonQ has strengthened its senior leadership with four key hires focused on information technology, field engineering, and human resources: Katie Arrington joins as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Arrington, a veteran of the Department of War, will oversee the protection and modernization of IonQ’s global enterprise systems. Her announcement is available here. Leslie Kershaw has been promoted to Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Previously with IonQ Capella and a veteran of the U.S. Space Force, Kershaw brings nearly two decades of cyber leadership to her new corporate role. More details can be found here. Chad Sakac joins as Senior Vice President, Quantum Field Engineering. With a 25-year career including executive roles at Dell Technologies and VMware, Sakac will lead IonQ’s global field engineering team to support customer-facing deployments across compute, networking, and sensing. His announcement is available here. Kate Kemp has been appointed Chief Human Resources Officer. Kemp brings two decades of experience building and integrating people teams at high-growth public companies like DocuSign and Airbnb. She will lead global talent acquisition, AI enablement, and employee experience as IonQ continues its rapid workforce expansion. Her welcome announcement can be found here. Xanadu has announced the addition of two strategic leaders to its executive team as it moves toward a public listing via a business combination with Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp: Michael Trzupek joins as Chief Financial Officer. A seasoned finance executive with experience at Intel, Microsoft, and Imagination Technologies, Trzupek will manage Xanadu’s financial strategy and its push toward fault-tolerant quantum computing. Natalie Wilmore joins as Chief Legal Officer.

Formerly Deputy General Counsel at Pagaya Technologies, Wilmore specializes in building scalable legal infrastructure and internal controls for high-growth public companies. The full release is available here. PsiQuantum has announced the addition of three new members to its Government Advisory Board (GAB). Joining existing member Vice Admiral Bob Sharp, USN (Ret.), are The Hon. Stephen E. Biegun (former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State), The Hon. Ellen Lord (former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment), and Dr. Chris Miller (Professor at Tufts University and author of Chip War). These experts will help PsiQuantum advance its public-sector partnerships as it builds utility-scale quantum computers. The full announcement is available here. We wish all these organizations and individuals success in their new endeavors. January 16, 2026 Mohamed Abdel-Kareem2026-01-16T15:15:59-08:00 Leave A Comment Cancel replyComment Type in the text displayed above Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.