Brazil’s Inteli has launched its first research project as a recognised scientific and technological institution, joining forces with IBM to investigate whether quantum-generated randomness can improve industrial simulations.
Quantum computing has spent years promising to transform everything from financial modelling to industrial manufacturing.
Now, a Brazilian technology institute is attempting to answer a more immediate question: can quantum hardware make existing computational simulations better without replacing the computers running them?
The Institute of Technology and Leadership (Inteli) has launched its first research project as a Scientific, Technological and Innovation Institution (ICT), securing access to IBM’s quantum computing infrastructure to investigate whether quantum-generated random numbers can improve the accuracy and reliability of simulations used in business decision-making.
The initiative represents a significant development for Brazil’s emerging quantum technology ecosystem. Rather than pursuing an entirely quantum-based application, researchers will examine whether quantum resources can improve specific operations within conventional computing environments.
The distinction matters. While quantum computing companies continue developing increasingly sophisticated processors, practical commercial applications remain constrained by hardware limitations, error rates and the difficulty of demonstrating meaningful advantages over established systems.
Inteli’s project takes a narrower approach, focusing on one fundamental component of computational modelling: randomness.
Random numbers underpin simulations used to calculate financial exposure, forecast energy demand, assess manufacturing risks and model uncertainty across complex systems. Their quality can influence how accurately these models represent unpredictable real-world conditions.
Most conventional computers generate pseudo-random numbers through deterministic algorithms. Although these sequences can appear statistically random, they originate from mathematical processes that can theoretically be reproduced.
Quantum systems offer a different mechanism. By exploiting measurement outcomes governed by quantum mechanics, they can generate randomness rooted in physical processes rather than conventional computational algorithms.
Whether that difference produces better industrial simulations is the question Inteli intends to investigate.
Three routes to the same problem
The research will compare three approaches. A classical model will use conventional computational methods. A quantum model will obtain random numbers from IBM’s quantum environment. A hybrid model will combine quantum resources with classical processing, reflecting an architecture increasingly favoured by researchers seeking useful results from today’s imperfect quantum machines.
Researchers and students will test the approaches through the IBM Quantum Platform, measuring accuracy, stability and robustness across simulated scenarios. The objective is not simply to show that quantum randomness is different. It is to establish whether that difference changes decisions.
A simulation can be undermined by inaccurate assumptions, incomplete data or a flawed mathematical model, regardless of where its random numbers originate.
A convincing result would therefore require carefully controlled comparisons, including equivalent simulation settings, appropriate statistical tests and the costs of obtaining quantum-generated values. Speed, accessibility and reproducibility will matter alongside statistical performance.
Researchers will need to separate genuine improvements from effects caused by experimental design or hardware behaviour.
Building a bridge, not replacing a computer
The first deliverable is expected to be a minimum viable product: software connecting conventional applications with quantum resources, allowing researchers to run experiments, compare outputs and reuse components in future projects.
Instead of claiming an immediate quantum advantage or a commercially deployable product, Inteli is creating an experimental interface through which businesses could eventually assess the technology against their existing workflows.
Conventional infrastructure will continue handling data preparation, application logic and much of the numerical processing, while quantum devices perform narrowly defined tasks where they might offer benefits.
IBM has promoted this approach through its quantum-centric supercomputing architecture, which envisages quantum processors operating alongside classical high-performance computing infrastructure.
The company is also targeting a fault-tolerant quantum system, Starling, for 2029, although that roadmap remains a development objective rather than proof that broadly useful quantum computing has arrived.
For Inteli, access to the platform means students can investigate quantum services rather than restricting their work to theoretical exercises or software emulators. The research must demonstrate that the additional complexity delivers an advantage worth paying for.
A new status for Brazilian research
The project also marks an institutional change. Inteli is undertaking its first initiative under its recognition as an ICT, a designation provided for within Brazil’s Legal Framework for Innovation, Law No. 10.973/2004.
For Inteli, the designation creates a stronger platform for applied research and engagement with Brazil’s innovation ecosystem.
Maíra Habimorad, Inteli’s CEO, has described the transition as a milestone in the institute’s development, connecting its educational mission with more ambitious scientific and industrial work.
Its existing IBM relationship illustrates that model. Previous collaborations produced four prototypes: an autonomous AI customer service robot, a game based on IBM SkillsBuild AI Fundamentals, a soccer prediction platform using IBM tools and a voice-controlled content analysis application built with IBM Watson.
These projects were developed through project-based learning, with students responding to practical challenges set by companies, non-profit organisations and public institutions. The quantum initiative extends that educational structure into an area where the underlying technology is still developing rapidly.
Approximately 30 Inteli students are also expected to participate during 2026 in IBM’s AI Experiential Learning Lab. The global programme pairs students with IBM specialists to tackle business problems using IBM Bob, with a career fair planned at its conclusion.
For IBM Latin America president Tonny Martins, the partnership is an opportunity to connect applied research with technical training and future industrial needs. It also gives IBM a route into a new generation of Brazilian developers and researchers who may eventually work with its quantum ecosystem.
The industrial stakes
Inteli has identified manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, agribusiness, energy and telecommunications as potential areas for extending its methodology.
Manufacturers might model supply disruptions or equipment reliability. Financial institutions might simulate market risk. Energy companies could investigate demand fluctuations, while agricultural researchers might examine uncertain weather or production conditions.
Whether quantum-generated randomness helps any particular sector will depend on the structure of its simulations, the quality of available data and the operational value of any improvement.
The Brazilian context adds another dimension. The country is developing a broader research base in quantum technologies, with discussions involving telecommunications regulator Anatel and laboratory initiatives in Rio de Janeiro exploring quantum hardware and related capabilities.
Meaningful capability requires trained researchers, sustained funding, access to equipment and institutions able to translate experiments into useful tools.
Inteli’s partnership illustrates both the opportunity and the dependency. Brazilian researchers gain experience on sophisticated infrastructure, but the quantum hardware and supporting platform are supplied by an international technology company.
From demonstration to evidence
The immediate significance of the project lies less in the promise of a quantum breakthrough than in its willingness to test a specific claim. Quantum computing will not become commercially important simply because processors grow larger or roadmaps become more ambitious. Its value must be established against the tools businesses already use.
If quantum-generated randomness delivers no meaningful improvement for the selected simulations, that finding would help organisations avoid unnecessary investment and redirect research toward more promising applications.
A positive result would still require independent validation, economic analysis and testing beyond the initial prototype before supporting claims of commercial advantage.
For Brazil, the bigger prize may be the expertise accumulated along the way: students learning how quantum services integrate with classical systems, researchers developing reproducible benchmarks and companies gaining a clearer view of what the technology can realistically accomplish.
Inteli and IBM are not announcing the replacement of classical computing. They are asking where quantum computing might earn a place beside it. For an industry accustomed to extraordinary promises, that may be the more valuable experiment.
