IonQ Hires CMO and Deepens Technical Leadership Team to Lead Company Through Next Phase of Growth

Margaret Arakawa joins as Chief Marketing Officer

Kurt Kennett joins as Vice President of Software

New leadership roles follow a year of record growth, including a $25.5M deal with US AFRL and achieving #AQ 29 on a barium platform

COLLEGE PARK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), an industry leader in quantum computing, today announced the appointment of Margaret Arakawa as Chief Marketing Officer. She brings several decades of leadership experience to IonQ, having grown end-to-end ecosystems at startups and enterprise companies.

“Margaret’s arrival could not be better timed as we move to IonQ’s next phase of growth,” said Peter Chapman, CEO and President at IonQ. “IonQ brings together leading innovators and builders from across the enterprise and government space, and Margaret is no exception. She will play an integral role in helping IonQ scale as we commercialize quantum systems capable of solving the world’s most complex problems.”

Arakawa spent twenty years at Microsoft in the cloud, security and server business and in her last role was responsible for the multi-billion dollar U.S. Windows and Surface business. More recently, she served as the Chief Marketing Officer at both Outreach and Fastly, where she led all aspects of marketing. As CMO, Arakawa will play an integral part in IonQ’s growth strategy - both domestically and internationally.

“We’re at an incredible inflection point in quantum computing, and I look forward to working with customers and partners to grow the quantum ecosystem,” said Arakawa. “Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize countless industries and change millions of lives, and I’m eager to be part of this journey.”

Additionally, IonQ is further expanding its technical leadership team by appointing Kurt Kennett as Vice President of Software. Kennett joins IonQ with over three decades of experience from Microsoft, General Electric, and Nintendo in software, firmware, and systems integration. In his role, Kennett will lead the engineering strategy and development of software operations across the software stack for IonQ’s cutting-edge systems.

Kennett will be joining a world-class leadership bench of technical experts including Dr. Dean Kassman, Vice President of Engineering, Dr. Pat Tang, Vice President of Research & Development, and Dr. Dave Mehuys, Vice President of Production Engineering. This team has led IonQ’s technical milestone outperformance - against both internal and external goals - over the past 18+ months.

Today’s announcement follows recent technical and product achievements by IonQ, including reaching #AQ 29 on a barium platform, and the announcement of two new rack-mounted solutions and a $25.5M quantum deal with the United States Air Force Research Lab (AFRL).

About IonQ

IonQ, Inc. is a leader in quantum computing, with a proven track record of innovation and deployment. IonQ’s current generation quantum computer, IonQ Forte, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems, boasting an industry-leading 29 algorithmic qubits. Along with record performance, IonQ has defined what it believes is the best path forward to scale. IonQ is the only company with its quantum systems available through the cloud on Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as through direct API access.

IonQ Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Some of the forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words. Statements that are not historical in nature, including the words “believe,” “could,” “will,” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include those related to IonQ’s technology driving commercial advantage in the future, the potential effect of increased quantum computing capabilities on multiple industries, the development of IonQ’s offerings, increases in algorithmic qubit achievement, and the scalability and reliability of IonQ’s quantum computing offerings. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: changes in the competitive industries in which IonQ operates, including development of competing technologies; changes in laws and regulations affecting IonQ’s business; IonQ’s ability to implement its business plans, forecasts and other expectations, identify and realize partnerships and opportunities, and to engage new and existing customers. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company’s filings, including but not limited to those described in the “Risk Factors” section of IonQ’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other documents filed by IonQ from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and IonQ assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. IonQ does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.