Press & Speaking

Guest on the ISIG Semiconductor Leaders Podcast: “Nothing Stays Secret: Quantum Will Break All Encryption”

On the ISIG Semiconductor Leaders Podcast, talking through why quantum computing will eventually break today's encryption — and what that means for security, infrastructure, and the road to post-quantum cryptography.

Speaker at ISIG Quantum Executive Summit: “Who is Quantum Actually for? An End-User Reality Check”

At the ISIG Executive Summit: Quantum Computing Infra Summit in Silicon Valley, I joined a fireside chat cutting through the hype to ask who quantum computing is actually for — a candid, end-user reality check on where the technology delivers value today.

Quoted in Decrypt article: “Coinbase Creates Advisory Board to Study Quantum Computing Risks to Bitcoin”

In this Decrypt article, I’m quoted responding to Coinbase’s creation of an independent advisory board to assess long-term quantum computing risks to Bitcoin’s cryptographic security.

Guest on the Don’t Be a Jerk Podcast with Healey Cypher

A rare non-quantum conversation with BoomPop founder Healey Cypher — on entrepreneurship, personal growth, haters, and navigating Silicon Valley. From accidentally taking down Georgia Tech’s network (and landing $35K in seed funding) to turning a shy scientist into a world-class communicator.

Featured in Big Think: "A million qubits? This quantum advisor isn't buying it"

In this Big Think feature, I challenge the hype around “million-qubit” promises — breaking down what’s real, what’s physics, and how investors can separate breakthrough science from buzzword-driven vaporware.

Selected as One of 20 Emerging GPs for Bridge Funding Global’s Fall 2025 Cohort

After a decade spent building at the intersection of quantum computing, semiconductors, and AI hardware, I was chosen from over 100 applicants to join Bridge Funding Global’s selective program for the next generation of venture capital leaders. This marks an exciting step in scaling my role as a deep tech investor and connector in Silicon Valley.

Preprint Released: Solving the Compute Crisis with Physics-Based ASICs

Together with researchers from Normal Computing, ARIA, ARPA-E, UC Santa Barbara, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Yale, and Santa Fe Institute, we introduced a new class of chips that compute by harnessing physical dynamics. This paradigm shift could break past Moore’s Law limits and drastically cut the energy cost of training frontier AI models.

Guest on Protiviti Podcast: Quantum Hype Check

Quantum computing is a fast-moving field, and not just when photons are involved. Join host Konstantinos Karagiannis for a wide-ranging chat with Anastasia Marchenkova where they cover recent developments and potential future outcomes. Topics include: chip hype, logical qubits, imminent practical business use cases, quantum random numbers, the implications of AI in quantum coding, investing, and networking or interconnect.

Host & Moderator at Normal Computing’s AI Energy & Silicon Complexity Workshop Panel: “Strategies for Building Enduring Companies and Partnership Ecosystems in Next-Gen Computing, Infrastructure, and AI”

I had the pleasure of co-hosting Normal Computing's "Solving the AI Energy and Silicon Complexity Crises with Physics-Based Computing" and moderating a high-impact conversation with Dr. Suraj Bramhavar (ARIA), Dr. Steve Fu (Celesta Capital), Dr. Benjamin Weiner (ARPA-E), and Dillon Erb (Paperspace). We tackled the challenges of building enduring companies in next-gen computing and AI infrastructure—covering public-private partnerships, capital strategy, and what it really takes to scale breakthroughs in a post-Moore’s Law world.

Named Top 15 Bay Area Tech Influencer

SXSW 2025: Panelist on “Driving Quantum Performance in the Cloud: From Hardware to Applications”

I joined Helmut Katzgraber (AWS), Tim Rogers (IonQ), and Michael Biercuk (Q-CTRL) for a sharp discussion on how quantum computing is being deployed through the cloud today. We covered the full stack—from cutting-edge hardware to error mitigation, software integration, and enterprise use cases. Hosted by AWS at SXSW in Austin, this panel focused on how to turn quantum from a moonshot into something real, scalable, and usable across industries.

Speaker at Quantum Innovation Summit in Dubai - Panel “The Road to Quantum Commercialization: Scaling for Industry Adoption”

We focused on one core point: how to translate quantum’s promise into commercial reality. The future of quantum commercialization depends on both technical breakthroughs and practical strategies for market adoption.

Guest on the QuSecure podcast with Rebecca Krauthamer about how Quantum Computing could disrupt Blockchain security

I had the opportunity to dive into a discussion with Rebecca Krauthamer, (Founder, Chief Product Officer) at QuSecure, on Last Week In Quantum where we explored the impact of quantum computing on blockchain security, talking about essential insights for CISOs on the brink of the quantum era, implications of quantum advancements on blockchain, and what it means for the future of digital security.

Guest on the QRL Podcast hosted by Konstantinos Karagiannis, Michael Strike, and Ryan Malinowski.

We tackled a variety of cutting-edge topics, including hashing and quantum data loading, scaling quantum computers, the quest for quantum supremacy, and the implications of NIST Standards and the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade.

Guest on The Quantum Era hosted by Sebastian Hassinger and Amazon Web Services (AWS)

In this episode, we dive deep into the fascinating world of quantum computing and the broader tech landscape and talk about my unique blend of experiences in startups, academia, and venture capital. Join us as we explore the intersections of technology, business, and education, and uncover the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the quantum era.

Invited Speaker at RPI's Quantum Day

Over the course of three days in April 2024, researchers, students, and industry experts from all over the world joined the greater RPI community for workshops and technical sessions. The event culminated on April 5 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony revealing the IBM Quantum System One, the first to be housed on a university campus.

Speaker at SXSW Panel "The Sixth Sense: Quantum Sensors" Presented by U.S. Army

Quantum sensors stand out as a technological revolution often overshadowed by the limelight of quantum computing. However, their implications span far and wide, impacting healthcare, climate change, defense, and other fields that affect our daily lives.

International Women's Day 2024 Interview in Inside Quantum Technology

In celebration of International Women’s Day, a time dedicated to honoring the achievements of women around the globe, we at Inside Quantum Technology are thrilled to present an exclusive Q&A article featuring Anastasia Marchenkova.

Panelist with Dr. John Martinis of Google Quantum for The AI Megatrend Insiders event hosted by Rampart VC

Discover advances poised to disrupt trillion-dollar industries. Panel discussion with John Martinis on quantum technology and AI.

Panelist and Moderator at Quantum Australia on "Quantum Blockchain and Security - Challenges and Opportunities for the Finance Sector"

How does quantum computing pose a threat to current cryptographic standards used in the finance sector and blockchain?

Panelist at Xanadu's QuHack "Employed / Unemployed: A Superposition"

The quantum computing industry is here to stay, but what do and what will careers look like? Anastasia Marchenkova, Roger Luo (University of Waterloo), Richard Givhan (Haiqu), and Jake Malliaros (CDL) discuss.

Speaker "Quantum Technology for Connecting Every Child to the Internet" at Giga Global Demo Day in Geneva

The future of Giga is not just about connecting one school to the internet. It’s about building an infrastructure for future technology, blockchain, quantum, and more.

Launched The Quantum State in collaboration with BTQ

BTQ Technologies Corp. (NEO: BTQ) (FSE: NG3) (OTCQX: BTQQF), a global quantum technology company focused on securing mission-critical networks, is thrilled to announce the launch of its brand-new podcast, "The Quantum State." Anastasia Marchenkova serves as the host of the series. Each episode features enlightening discussions with regular guest experts from the quantum technology community, shedding light on the mysteries and possibilities of this burgeoning field.

Interviewed by Inside Quantum Technology

Featured on Inside Quantum Technology blog for the Women in Quantum series.

Extraversion for Introverts is Live!

One day, a mentor told me "You have the IQ. If you get the EQ, you’re going to be unstoppable.” If I wanted to reach my goals, I had to learn how to communicate my vision. Over a decade, I honed my skills, and today, I launched everything I learned in this course and community! I build this course for introverts who want to overcome their public speaking fears, overcome imposter syndrome, and build a powerful and confident presence online and offline, so you can open doors to new opportunities.

Appointed Vice Chair of the IEEE Quantum Computing Nomenclature Working Group

IEEE P7130 will establish a general nomenclature for Quantum Computing to standardize communication with related hardware and software projects. IEEE P7130 will define terms related to the physics of quantum computing including quantum tunneling, super position, quantum entanglement, as well as other related terms and terminology that will be updated as technological advances are made.

IEEE Quantum Podcast: Episode 16: A Conversation with Anastasia Marchenkova, Researcher at Bleximo and affiliate researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

This episode features Anastasia Marchenkova, Researcher at Bleximo and affiliate researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Anastasia shares her unique insights into the quantum computing space as a researcher and influencer. She also discusses the promise quantum computing holds for benefiting humanity, and provides sound advice to young professionals who might be interested in pursuing quantum computing as a career track.

The Post-Quantum World Podcast: Application Specific Quantum Computing with Protiviti and host Konstantinos Karagiannis

Squeezing every bit of performance out of a NISQ-era quantum processor is usually handled in the software stack. But what if you could actually design QPUs for specific types of use cases? Anastasia Marchenkova is working on this approach at Bleximo and the result has been a remarkable boost to speed. Join host Konstantinos Karagiannis for a chat about the possibilities of these application-specific quantum computers, as well as the terrific awareness work Anastasia has been doing for years.

Guest on Futurati Podcast - Ep. 120: Quantum computing explained

We talk about the different approaches to quantum computing, what it means for encryption (and Bitcoin), and why it absolutely does not make faster-than-light communication possible. (I wanted to be very, very clear about that!)

Q2B Conference 2022: Moderator for Closing Keynote with Scott Aaronson

Join Scott Aaronson and Bleximo Researcher Anastasia Marchenkova at the closing keynote of the #Q2B Conference for a Fireside chat, reflecting on the year's accomplishments in the quantum computing space and discussions on the future of quantum hardware, error correction, and algorithms, and skepticism about quantum wormholes.

VC Lab Cohort 7 Graduation and Award

VC Lab is a virtual program that helps new managers to launch accelerators, pre-seed, seed or Series A venture capital firms globally. The goal of the program is to complete a close in six months or less. Ran by Adeo Ressi and Mike Suprovici.

Panelist at the qBraid QHacks: Application Specific Quantum Computing

Tune in to learn more about Bleximo, our application-specific approach, and the impact you can make by joining the QC industry.

Guest Host for The Quantum Insider

Host of QViews by Quantum Insider, a quantum tech industry publication. Together, we’ve partnered to present you with the top quantum technology news and opportunities across research and industry, all over the world.

Moderator at Insider Quantum Technology Conference Panel: Quantum Computing and Cryptocurrencies

Recently, Anastasia Marchenkova was a moderator at the Inside Quantum Technology panel in New York on Quantum Computing and cryptocurrencies. While there is no video of the event, the link is to YouTube video where I discuss my thoughts after the conference.

Speaker at RSA Conference 2021 - "Quantum Computing: One Weird Trick to Break RSA Encryption"

What are the security implications of a large, coherent, fault-tolerant quantum computer? Breaking RSA would take trillions of years with a classical computer. Shor’s Algorithm can do it in 100 seconds. This session will discuss the current status of quantum computers and the roadmap to 10 million qubits, Shor’s algorithm, risks to current encryption standards, and post-quantum and quantum cryptography.

3rd Party Subject Matter Expert for IonQ's SPAC Analyst Day

Created two videos that were presented to SEC Analysts on quantum physics and quantum computing hardware modalities.

Grace Hopper Panelist - “What you need to know about Quantum Computing for Scientists and Engineers" hosted by IBM Quantum

Answering questions about working in quantum computing industry, learning quantum computing skills, and where to get hands on experience.

QISE-NET Panel Speaker: Transitioning to Industry – Perspectives from Graduates

The Quantum Information Science and Engineering Network (QISE-NET), co-led by the University of Chicago and Harvard University, provides selected students with $10K per year for up to three years. I spoke with fellow panelists from Google, IBM, and HRL to the students in the program about the challenges of transitioning from academia to industry and experiences working in startups.

1st Place Winner at IBM's Qiskit Camp Asia 2019 for Designing a Pulse Programming Language

The project expanded Qiskit’s OpenPulse feature to IBM Q’s QASM simulator, OpenPulse, and new quantum chip backends. It enables users to calibrate qubits by modifying the microwave pulse sent to quantum hardware. We expanded this feature to simulators, took information from real chips and rewrote the lexer and parser to create a new coding language to allow for precise control of pulses for real hardware.

2nd Place Winner at IBM's Qiskit Camp Europe 2019 for Speeding Up Qiskit

The project expanded adding profiling infrastructure (time and size) to Qiskit Aqua to find slow code execution. The profilers are made available through the built-in logging infrastructure, and there are 4 levels of logging available.

Affiliate Researcher appointment at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Bleximo raises $1.5M for its quantum computing accelerators

Bleximo announced a $1.5 million seed round led by Eniac Ventures. Other investors in this round include Boost VC, Creative Ventures, KEC Ventures and Gyan Kapur.

Bleximo graduates from Founder's Institute

Founder's Institute is a startup incubator to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses.

Bleximo is Founded

Bleximo is building full-stack superconducting application-specific quantum computers by co-designing algorithms and hardware to deliver practical solutions for high-impact problems.

Joined Rigetti Quantum Computing as Employee #4

Guest Speaker at DC I-Corps in Bethesda, Maryland: "Lean Business Canvas for Scientific Ventures"

DC I-Corps Node is one of NSF’s national nodes that help to expedite technology commercialization from regional universities, their affiliates, and federal labs, to enhance the creation of technology-based startups around the nation. The DC Node focuses on fostering and nurturing an innovation ecosystem in the nation’s capital, the nearby states of Maryland and Virginia, and the mid-Atlantic region.

Talk at University of Maryland on "Nanoscale magnetic sensing and quantum computing in Nitrogen-vacancy centers"

Presented at the University of Maryland on Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. These are defects in diamonds that are promising platforms for both nanoscale magnetic sensing. Their unique combination of magnetic sensitivity and long coherence times make them attractive for a variety of applications.

Courseshark/Jokudo acquired

Faculty’s Choice Full PhD Fellowship at University of Maryland

Fellowship award to one incoming PhD student per year.

Physical Review A Publication: “Light storage on the time scale of a minute” acknowledged for experimental assistance

We employ an ultracold atomic gas confined in a one-dimensional optical lattice for long-term light storage. The differential ac Stark shift of the ground-level microwave transition used for storage is reduced to a sub-Hz level by the application of a magic-valued magnetic field. The 1 / e lifetime for storage of coherent states of light is prolonged up to 16 s by a microwave dynamic decoupling protocol. Y. O. Dudin, L. Li, and A. Kuzmich

Joined the Flashpoint Startup Incubator

Flashpoint works closely with founders to enable them to think clearly about their businesses. Raised funding, found product market fit, and launched Jokudo through the Deliberate Innovation process.

Crashed the Georgia Tech servers and did not get expelled or suspended (unlike Zuckerberg)

Accidentally DDOS-ed the school servers one night with my friend and future co-founder. The Honor Board was NOT happy. One professor thought it was hilarious and offered us a spot in his startup incubator, Flashpoint, and a check for seed funding. Led to founding of CourseShark/Jokudo.

NSF National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Award (Summer 2011)

Awarded for research in the Dr. Kuzmich group for quantum telecommunications. NSF REUs are competitive summer research programs in the United States for undergraduates studying science, engineering, or mathematics. They fund student salaries to conduct undergraduate research with Georgia Tech faculty.

Georgia Tech President's Undergraduate Research Award (Summer 2011)

Awarded for research in the Dr. Kuzmich group for quantum telecommunications. President's Undergraduate Research Awards fund student salaries to conduct undergraduate research with Georgia Tech faculty and offset travel expenses for undergraduates to present their research at professional conferences.

Invited Speaker at ACC Meeting of the Minds 2011 on "Long-Lived Neutral Atom Quantum Memories"

The ACC Meeting of the Minds is an annual research conference celebrating undergraduate research and creative inquiry. 5 undergrads from each ACC school are chosen to represent the school. Pr

Nature Physics Publication: “Quantum memory with telecom wavelength conversion” acknowledged for experimental assistance

We observe quantum memory lifetimes in excess of 0.1 s by laser compensation of the lattice light shifts that limited the previous generation of atomic memory to 7 ms. A. G. Radnaev, Y. O. Dudin, R. Zhao, H. H. Jen, S. D. Jenkins, A. Kuzmich & T. A. B. Kennedy.

Thomas T. Flagler Jr. College of Sciences Scholarship

Awarded to one upperclassman at the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences with exemplary research experience

Publication of “Parameters Controlling Coating of Metal Microneedles”

First International Conference on Microneedles, May 2010, Atlanta, GA. “Parameters Controlling Coating of Metal Microneedles”, V. Zarnitsyn, C. Grajczak , A. Marchenkova, and M. R. Prausnitz.

NSF National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Award (Summer 2010)

Awarded for research in the Dr. Kuzmich group for quantum telecommunications. NSF REUs are competitive summer research programs in the United States for undergraduates studying science, engineering, or mathematics. They fund student salaries to conduct undergraduate research with Georgia Tech faculty.

Georgia Tech President's Undergraduate Research Award (Summer 2010)

Awarded for research in the Dr. Kuzmich group for quantum telecommunications. President's Undergraduate Research Awards fund student salaries to conduct undergraduate research with Georgia Tech faculty and offset travel expenses for undergraduates to present their research at professional conferences.

Got bored of high school, graduated early

Decided I didn't want to do more high school. Got accepted to the Georgia Institute of Technology as a 11th grader through regular admissions. Everyone was confused but all I needed was to double up on Lit and History that year, submitted documents to the state and got the diploma.

National Merit Commended Scholar

Top 2% of all PSAT scores

Governor's Honors Program Scholar in Technology and Mathematics

The Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) is a residential summer program for top 0.5% of high school sophomores and juniors in Georgia. Major: Technology. Minor: Mathematics.