JPMorgan Taps State Street’s Rob Otter to Head Quantum Research

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reshuffled the leadership of its Global Technology Applied Research team, appointing former State Street executive Rob Otter to oversee the bank’s quantum-computing and advanced-technology initiatives, according to a 21 July employee memo cited by CNBC. Otter, previously State Street’s global head of digital technology and quantum computing, re-joins JPMorgan after earlier stints at the bank’s Onyx blockchain unit and technology roles at Barclays, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs. He succeeds Marco Pistoia, the IBM veteran who had led JPMorgan’s applied research group since 2020 and recently left the firm. One of Pistoia’s deputies, Charles Lim, head of quantum communications and cryptography, has also departed. The reshuffle comes as global financial institutions race to harness quantum computing for trading, risk management and cybersecurity. JPMorgan has been exploring quantum algorithms for option pricing and portfolio optimisation, while technology giants such as Alphabet and IBM work to commercialise the still-nascent hardware.