The Quantum Control Stack with Niels Bultink

The Quantum Control Stack with Niels Bultink

From The New Quantum Era - innovation in quantum computing, science and technology by Sebastian Hassinger

May 11, 2026 · 37 min · Episode 92

About this episode

Niels Bultink discusses the importance of the quantum control stack in scaling quantum hardware and the efforts of Qblox in the field.

Every quantum computer — superconducting, spin, trapped ion, or neutral atom — depends on a layer most people never see: the precisely timed electronics that play qubits like a microwave-frequency piano and read the answers back. Niels Bultink, co-founder and CEO of Qblox, joins Sebastian to explain why the quantum control stack has become a strategic bottleneck for scaling quantum hardware, and how a Delft spinout is building the picks-and-shovels of fault-tolerant quantum computing while expanding into the U.S. through a Boston headquarters, U.S. manufacturing in Massachusetts, and a partnership with Fermilab on the open-source QICK platform.

People in this episode

Host: Sebastian Hassinger

Guest: Niels Bultink

Topics covered

  • quantum computing
  • quantum control stack
  • scaling quantum hardware
  • fault-tolerant quantum computing
  • electronics in quantum computers

Keywords

  • quantum control stack
  • quantum computing
  • Qblox
  • fault-tolerant
  • electronics
  • scaling
  • Delft
  • Boston
  • Fermilab

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Qblox, Fermilab

Products: QICK

Places: Delft, Boston, Massachusetts

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