# QCi splits its CRO role in two, hiring Susan Hunt to run revenue as Pouya Dianat moves to a new chief product officer seat By MarketScale Newsroom · Published 2026-08-03 · Software & Technology on MarketScale Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/software-and-technology/qci-splits-its-cro-role-in-two-hiring-susan-hunt-to-run-revenue-as-pouya-dianat-moves-to-a-new-chief-product-officer-seat > Quantum Computing Inc. named Susan Hunt as CRO and created a CPO role for Pouya Dianat, signaling a deliberate push to separate sales execution from product str ## Key points - Quantum Computing Inc. has separated its CRO role into two positions: Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Product Officer. - Susan Hunt will focus on driving revenue as the newly appointed Chief Revenue Officer. - Pouya Dianat will lead product development and innovation as the Chief Product Officer. Quantum Computing Inc. is restructuring its commercial leadership at what it describes as the beginning of a broader deployment phase. On July 22, 2026, the Hoboken, New Jersey-based photonics and quantum technology company named Susan Hunt as its new Chief Revenue Officer and simultaneously created a Chief Product Officer role for Pouya Dianat, who had been serving as CRO, according to a company announcement via PR Newswire. The move is a structural bet. By splitting a single CRO seat into two distinct executive functions, QCi is signaling that selling quantum and photonics technology at enterprise scale requires dedicated ownership of both the customer pipeline and the product roadmap, not a combined function managed by one person. ## A $2 billion enterprise sales track record comes to QCi Hunt's resume maps almost exactly to the profile QCi needs for this moment. Over a 30-plus year career, she has held senior revenue and sales leadership positions at Salesforce, Nuance Communications, LivePerson, Orbital Insight, and Sprint PCS. Across those roles, she negotiated more than $2 billion in enterprise agreements and built global sales organizations for companies bringing then-nascent technologies to market, according to the company's announcement. That specific kind of experience, commercializing technologies that enterprise buyers do not yet have a procurement category for, is what separates a useful CRO hire from a straightforward one for a company like QCi. Quantum computing and photonic systems still require significant customer education and custom deal structures. Hunt has done that work repeatedly, in AI, cloud, and advanced data analytics. > Negotiating $2 billion in enterprise agreements across AI, cloud, and telecom is exactly the muscle a quantum hardware company needs when it moves from pilot deployments to commercial contracts. As CRO, Hunt will own QCi's global revenue strategy, direct sales, business development, strategic partnerships, and customer success. That scope puts her in charge of the full customer lifecycle, from initial engagement through expansion, as QCi pushes into high-performance computing, cybersecurity, aerospace and defense, and advanced sensing markets. ## Dianat stays close to the customer, but from the product side The more operationally interesting appointment may be Dianat's transition. Rather than moving on, QCi's outgoing CRO shifts into the newly created Chief Product Officer seat. The rationale is straightforward: Dianat built relationships with QCi's commercial and government customers while serving as CRO, and that accumulated market intelligence now feeds directly into product strategy and roadmap decisions. As CPO, Dianat will lead product vision, strategy, and management, coordinating with engineering and marketing to ensure QCi's photonics and quantum systems are packaged as differentiated, deployable solutions. The company's portfolio spans photonic chips, electronic components, subsystems, and full-stack systems, all designed to run at room temperature with low power requirements, a technical posture QCi argues makes real-world deployment far more practical than cryogenic alternatives. QCi also recently completed the acquisition of NHanced Semiconductors, adding foundry services for photonic chip and semiconductor manufacturing to its vertical integration story. That expanded capability gives Dianat a broader product surface to work with as he builds out the CPO function. ## What the structure says about QCi's go-to-market maturity For enterprise buyers evaluating quantum or photonics vendors, a supplier's internal structure carries real signal. A company that still combines product and revenue under one executive is typically still in an early-stage mode, where a single leader can hold both the technical story and the sales motion. Splitting those functions is a marker of commercial maturity: enough pipeline and product complexity that each domain needs dedicated leadership. QCi CEO Yuping Huang framed the changes around readiness, stating in the company's announcement that its technology and products are prepared for broader deployment and are already delivering value through practical applications. That framing positions the leadership restructuring as a response to demand, not a preparatory move waiting on the technology. QCi operates across seven states including Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Virginia in addition to its New Jersey headquarters, a footprint that reflects both its manufacturing operations and its customer base in defense and government contracting. Hunt's first task will be translating that geographic and technical presence into a scalable revenue engine. QCi has not disclosed a specific revenue target tied to the appointment, but the dual hire signals the company expects its commercial activity to grow beyond what a single executive can manage. ## Sources - [QCi appoints Susan Hunt as CRO, creates CPO role for Pouya Dianat](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quantum-computing-inc-appoints-susan-hunt-as-chief-revenue-officer-and-creates-chief-product-officer-role-to-accelerate-commercial-growth-302831625.html) (PR Newswire) Tags: Quantum Computing Inc., QCi, QUBT, quantum computing, photonics, semiconductor manufacturing, executive appointment, chief revenue officer, chief product officer, enterprise technology, go-to-market, commercial strategy, high-performance computing, cybersecurity --- Source: MarketScale, https://www.marketscale.com/industries/software-and-technology/qci-splits-its-cro-role-in-two-hiring-susan-hunt-to-run-revenue-as-pouya-dianat-moves-to-a-new-chief-product-officer-seat. 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