QCi splits its CRO role in two, hiring Susan Hunt to lead revenue as Pouya Dianat moves to a new chief product officer seat

Quantum Computing Inc. made two C-suite moves at once on July 22, 2026: it hired veteran enterprise sales executive Susan Hunt as Chief Revenue Officer and carved out a new Chief Product Officer title for Pouya Dianat, who had held the CRO seat before Hunt's arrival. The Hoboken, N.J.-based company, which trades on Nasdaq as QUBT and describes itself as a vertically integrated photonics and semiconductor manufacturer, says the restructuring is designed to give both commercial execution and product development their own dedicated leadership as it pushes toward broader enterprise deployment.

A CRO with $2 billion in enterprise agreements

Hunt brings a resume built almost entirely at the intersection of emerging technology and large-scale enterprise sales. According to QCi's announcement, she negotiated more than $2 billion in enterprise agreements over a career spanning Salesforce, Nuance Communications, LivePerson, Orbital Insight, and Sprint PCS. At each stop she built or rebuilt global sales organizations around products that were, at the time, unfamiliar to most buyers.

That background is relevant context for QCi's challenge. Quantum and photonics-based computing still requires significant buyer education, and closing enterprise contracts often means navigating procurement cycles that default to established vendors. Hunt's track record at Nuance, which sold AI-powered voice technology to healthcare and financial-services enterprises before the category was mainstream, and at Orbital Insight, which commercialized geospatial AI for government and commercial clients, suggests familiarity with exactly that dynamic.

In her new role, Hunt will oversee QCi's global revenue strategy, sales organization, business development, strategic partnerships, and customer success programs, according to the company.

What the CPO role means for QCi's product strategy

Dianat's move to Chief Product Officer is structured as a promotion in scope rather than a sideways shift. As CRO, his mandate included both revenue and commercial product alignment. As CPO, his focus narrows to product vision, roadmap ownership, and ensuring QCi's technologies are packaged into differentiated solutions for both enterprise and government buyers. He will work directly with engineering and marketing teams, the company said.

The timing matters. QCi completed the acquisition of NHanced Semiconductors in mid-2026, expanding its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, and separately announced a framework agreement with Planck Dynamics to deploy its NeuraWave Photonic Reservoir Computer as a platform for next-generation AI applications, according to prior PR Newswire releases. Managing a growing technical portfolio across photonic chips, electronic components, subsystems, and full-stack systems while simultaneously accelerating commercial deals is a workload that strains a single executive. Splitting the roles addresses that directly.

CEO Yuping Huang framed the changes as a deliberate sequencing decision, noting in the company's announcement that QCi's technology and products are ready for broader deployment and that the leadership restructure is meant to match that readiness with dedicated execution capacity.

Operational implications for enterprise and government buyers

For procurement and IT operations teams evaluating quantum or photonics-based systems, the restructuring carries a practical signal: QCi now has a single executive accountable for revenue and go-to-market who is not simultaneously managing product roadmap decisions. That separation typically shortens procurement conversations because the person responsible for partnership agreements is not also arbitrating internal product trade-offs.

QCi's systems are designed to operate at room temperature with low power requirements, a specification that matters for enterprise deployment in standard data-center environments where cryogenic cooling is not available. The company's footprint spans operations in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Virginia, giving it geographic reach for both commercial and government contract vehicles.

Hunt's specific mandate includes strategic partnerships and customer success in addition to direct sales, suggesting QCi intends to expand through channel and co-sell agreements alongside direct enterprise contracts. For operations leaders who encounter QCi through a system integrator or defense prime, Hunt's appointment marks the executive they will ultimately negotiate with.

What this means for your team

• Re-engage QCi on active evaluations: the appointment of a dedicated CRO with enterprise-software and AI-commercialization experience may accelerate deal timelines and change the negotiation dynamic compared to prior outreach.
• Map QCi's photonics and semiconductor portfolio against your HPC, cybersecurity, or sensing roadmap: room-temperature, low-power operation removes a major deployment barrier that has historically slowed quantum procurement.
• Track the CPO's roadmap signals: Dianat's shift to product ownership means new product announcements and roadmap updates will now carry a dedicated executive voice; monitor for formal product briefings aimed at commercial and government buyers.
• Assess partnership channel exposure: Hunt's brief includes strategic partnerships, so organizations working through system integrators or defense primes should verify whether existing channel agreements cover QCi's current portfolio.