World Quantum Cannes Festival: two days on real quantum use cases
On 17 and 18 November 2026 in Cannes, a business-oriented programme where Airbus, AISIN, AstraZeneca, Generali or Citi present what they actually do with quantum.
The World Quantum Cannes Festival takes place on 17 and 18 November 2026 in Cannes. Its conference programme sets aside a full track for real-world applications, presented by the companies running them, and a morning on how large organisations adopt quantum computing.
Why it matters
Most quantum conferences talk about qubits. This one lets end users speak: navigation without GPS, delivery routes, drug discovery, grid congestion. For a watch on use cases, it is the programme to read.
Key takeaways
- 17 and 18 November 2026, Cannes. The organisers expect around 1,200 industry leaders and more than 180 speakers; the honorary committee is chaired by Nobel laureate Alain Aspect.
- On 17 November, the applications track brings Q-CTRL (GPS-free navigation in aviation), Airbus (aerospace and defence), AISIN (truck delivery route optimisation), AstraZeneca (drug discovery), Baker Hughes (emission forecasting), Elia (grid congestion with annealers) and Bundesdruckerei (public administration).
- On the morning of 18 November, adoption stories from Generali (without a dedicated quantum team), RBC, Citi and Merck, plus a keynote by Lionel Martellini (EDHEC Quantum Institute) on separating hype from reality in finance.
- The main stage covers sovereignty, industrial capacity, fault-tolerant machines, software and benchmarking, security, HPC and AI integration, and talent. Registration is on the festival website.
The World Quantum Cannes Festival is a new business-oriented quantum event held on 17 and 18 November 2026 in Cannes, organised by Valuexchange. According to the organisers, around 1,200 industry leaders and more than 180 speakers are expected, and the honorary committee is chaired by Nobel laureate Alain Aspect.
What makes it relevant here is the conference programme (version of 11 September 2026). The main stage follows a classic arc: operational sovereignty, industrial capacity, fault-tolerant application-scale machines, software and benchmarking, scaling adoption, security in the quantum era, integration with HPC and AI, and workforce.
Conference Room 2 on 17 November is where the use cases sit. In the afternoon, end users take the stage one after another: Baker Hughes with G2Q Computing on quantum machine learning for emission forecasting, Bundesdruckerei on evaluating quantum technologies for public administration, Elia on grid congestion management with quantum annealers, Airbus on quantum advantage in aerospace and defence, Q-CTRL on GPS-free navigation in aviation, AISIN on truck delivery route optimisation, and AstraZeneca on quantum computing in drug discovery. Lionel Martellini (EDHEC Quantum Institute) gives a keynote titled A quantum walk down Wall Street, on separating hype from reality in finance.
The morning of 18 November on the main stage is about adoption: a panel with Merck, Citi and Quantum Brilliance on moving beyond proofs of concept, then Generali on bringing quantum computing into the company without a dedicated quantum team, RBC on building a quantum function inside a large institution, and S&P Global on the middle layer needed to scale adoption.
The opening keynote on 17 November is given by Mehdi Gmar (CNRS), and the programme also features Celia Merzbacher (Quantum Economic Development Consortium) and Freeke Heijman-te Paske (European Quantum Industry Consortium). Registration is handled on the festival website.
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