Quantum computing + AI + agents = AGI?

What happens when you combine frontier AI, agentic systems, and quantum computing?

In this episode of NEXT with John Koetsier, we chat with Mykola Maksymenko, co-founder and CTO of Haiqu, about how AI agents are dramatically accelerating quantum research and potentially scientific discovery as a whole.

Maksymenko shares how an AI system was able to reconstruct months of his own PhD research in a fraction of the time, even identifying a bug in one of his formulas.

He also discusses experiments involving genomics, molecular simulation, quantum chemistry, and condensed matter physics.

The bigger question: do we really need to wait for fault-tolerant quantum computers with hundreds or thousands of logical qubits before quantum computing becomes useful?

Maksymenko argues that useful quantum applications are already emerging today, particularly when AI agents help scientists discover algorithms, orchestrate workflows, and handle the complexity of working with noisy quantum hardware.

We also explore the risks of increasingly capable AI systems, scientific guardrails, quantum utility versus quantum supremacy, and what happens when researchers can test ideas in a weekend that previously might have required months or years.

Topics include:

• Agentic AI for scientific research

• Quantum utility vs. quantum supremacy

• AI-assisted genomics

• Quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics

• Automating quantum software workflows

• AI as a scientific collaborator and educator

• The risks and guardrails of frontier AI

• Why scientific discovery could accelerate dramatically

00:00 — “I think AGI is here”

00:40 — Meet Mykola Maksymenko

01:01 — Why a quantum physicist started experimenting with genomics

02:18 — Reproducing years of research with AI and quantum computing

03:07 — The convergence of AI, agents, and quantum computers

04:26 — Are we entering the singularity?

04:45 — AI reconstructs six months of PhD research

05:28 — The risks of AI-assisted genomics and scientific discovery

06:46 — Pandora’s box and the race for frontier AI

07:02 — What researchers are doing with the technology now

08:29 — Can quantum computers already do useful work?

09:21 — From quantum supremacy to quantum utility

11:06 — Molecular dynamics and quantum chemistry

12:12 — The minimum viable product of quantum computing

13:00 — Why Haiku moved deeper into agentic AI

13:30 — How much faster can AI make scientific research?

15:47 — AI as a scientist’s educator and collaborator

16:51 — Running research experiments over a weekend

17:16 — What happens next for AI + quantum computing

17:38 — How AI agents operate quantum computers

18:59 — Closing thoughts