)
Ilyas Khan
Co-Founder & CTO,
Quantinuum
Ilyas founded Cambridge Quantum in 2014 and was also the founding CEO of Quantinuum, the company created as a result of the merger of Cambridge Quantum with Honeywell Quantum Solutions. As well as being Vice-Chairman of the board of directors, Ilyas is also the Chief Product Officer of Quantinuum and part of the executive leadership team of the company.
Ilyas was the inaugural Chairman of The Stephen Hawking Foundation, holding the post until 2019. He is also the founding Chairman (non-executive) of the Topos Institute. He was a long-time fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge and also a fellow of the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, holding both positions for over 10 years until he stepped down in August 2025.
Whilst at the Judge Business School, Ilyas was instrumental in the founding of Accelerate Cambridge, which is regarded as one of the most successful early stage investment programmes for deep science start-ups.
Ilyas is recognised as one of the founders and leading voices in the quantum computing industry globally.
Ilyas was the inaugural Chairman of The Stephen Hawking Foundation, holding the post until 2019. He is also the founding Chairman (non-executive) of the Topos Institute. He was a long-time fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge and also a fellow of the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, holding both positions for over 10 years until he stepped down in August 2025.
Whilst at the Judge Business School, Ilyas was instrumental in the founding of Accelerate Cambridge, which is regarded as one of the most successful early stage investment programmes for deep science start-ups.
Ilyas is recognised as one of the founders and leading voices in the quantum computing industry globally.