D‑Wave and Staque Partner to Bring Quantum Annealing to Middle East Logistics

In a landmark move for applied quantum computing in logistics, D‑Wave Quantum Inc., a global leader in quantum annealing systems, announced a strategic partnership with Staque, a Middle East-based AI and quantum innovation firm. The goal: to roll out real-world quantum-powered logistics optimization projects across key Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies, beginning with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The partnership represents a tangible shift from research lab trials to active commercial deployment, with the logistics sector as the first target vertical. Together, D‑Wave and Staque aim to deploy annealing-based optimization solutions to some of the most complex, delay-prone environments in global trade—namely, freight yards, ports, and urban delivery corridors.

A Timely Alliance for Quantum Logistics

The announcement comes at a time when Middle Eastern countries are rapidly investing in advanced digital infrastructure, including 5G networks, smart cities, and AI-powered public services. Quantum computing is now being added to the mix, with a growing number of research initiatives and sovereign innovation funds signaling strong national interest in the technology.

According to D‑Wave CEO Dr. Alan Baratz, “This partnership with Staque marks a key step in applying our quantum annealing platform to real logistics problems—where routing, scheduling, and operational optimization challenges are highly complex and increasingly urgent.”

Meanwhile, Staque’s CEO Reema Halwani added: “Our strength lies in translating quantum complexity into operational insights. Logistics is a high-value industry with bottlenecks ripe for disruption. Quantum annealing offers a practical, scalable edge in this space.”

D‑Wave’s Annealing Advantage

Unlike gate-based quantum computers (like those being developed by IBM, Google, and IonQ), D‑Wave’s Advantage system uses quantum annealing, a process well-suited for solving combinatorial optimization problems—like route planning, facility scheduling, and supply chain modeling.

These are exactly the kinds of problems that plague modern logistics:

• Dynamic vehicle routing amid fluctuating demand

• Berth scheduling at crowded ports with incoming cargo vessels

• Warehouse optimization for pick-pack operations with high SKU variety

• Air cargo lane management for temperature-sensitive goods

• Urban freight reallocation due to last-mile disruptions or regulatory constraints

D‑Wave’s systems can process tens of thousands of variables in parallel, enabling “good-enough” answers in seconds, where classical systems may take hours—or fail altogether due to computational limits.

The Advantage 6.1 system, D‑Wave’s current commercial offering, will be the backbone of this deployment. It features over 5,000 qubits and improved coherence times, now equipped with leak-aware annealing, a feature that helps minimize performance degradation from thermal noise—critical for deployment in environments with real-time operational demand.

Staque: The Quantum-AI Integrator

Staque, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, is quickly becoming a regional leader in quantum-AI integration. With teams based in Dubai, Riyadh, and Doha, the company has previously partnered with telecoms and smart city planners on predictive mobility and energy optimization models. Staque brings to the table:

• Domain knowledge in Middle Eastern logistics networks

• AI-enhanced interfaces to translate quantum outputs into dashboard-ready insights

• On-ground relationships with port operators, customs, and freight handlers

• Localization expertise to align quantum models with regional datasets

Their platform will act as a middleware layer between D‑Wave’s annealing backend and real-world logistics control systems—ensuring that optimization outputs are actionable in near-real time.

Target Projects and Use Cases

Initial pilot projects are already being scoped across Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports and UAE’s Jebel Ali and Khalifa ports, with planned extensions into inland container yards and warehouse clusters in Riyadh and Dubai.

Some of the highlighted logistics use cases include:

1. Port Berth Scheduling

Cargo vessel arrivals are highly unpredictable, and berth space is limited. Quantum annealing will be applied to minimize idle time and reroute berths based on dynamic delays caused by weather, inspections, or upstream supply chain disruptions.

2. Freight Yard Routing

Container placement and vehicle routing inside massive freight yards is both NP-hard and labor-intensive. Annealing models will optimize internal routing to minimize fuel use, labor hours, and unnecessary shuttling of containers.

3. Warehouse Shift and Slot Planning

With SKUs often running into the tens of thousands, deciding where to place goods and how to assign staff or robotic pickers is a classic optimization challenge. Quantum processing can account for item velocity, expiry, and bin proximity—all at once.

4. Urban Logistics Routing

In dense cities like Dubai and Riyadh, last-mile delivery planning must account for real-time events—traffic, parking rules, and customer availability. The quantum annealing approach can reoptimize thousands of delivery routes within seconds based on updated sensor or user data.

Regional Backing and Strategic Alignment

This partnership aligns with broader regional development visions:

• Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 includes heavy investment in smart logistics, green freight, and AI-enhanced transport corridors like NEOM and King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).

• The UAE’s 4IR Strategy promotes quantum computing and logistics automation as pillars of future economic resilience.

• The GCC Interconnectivity Project seeks to harmonize logistics infrastructure and customs clearance across member states—making quantum-based optimization a valuable regional asset.

According to Fahd Al-Majid, logistics innovation advisor at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Transport, “The ability to process complex transport decisions faster than classical algorithms will define how competitive we are in tomorrow’s global logistics network. Quantum is the multiplier.”

Lessons from North American Trials

This isn’t D‑Wave’s first foray into logistics. Previous trials at the University of Southern California (USC) in 2022 and follow-up experiments with port authorities in Long Beach and Vancouver demonstrated meaningful improvements in scheduling and lane optimization.

For example, a USC–D‑Wave research team used annealing to reduce idle crane time at a container terminal by 13%, while maintaining throughput volumes. These results caught the attention of Gulf logistics planners, leading to the current Middle East collaboration.

The key difference now is commercial readiness. With Staque handling localization, AI integration, and deployment logistics, the project is moving out of sandbox environments and into live operations.

Risks and Challenges

Despite the promise, several challenges remain:

• Scalability: While D‑Wave’s annealers are highly capable for certain problem classes, they aren’t general-purpose and may require hybrid systems for broader use cases.

• Integration complexity: Existing logistics platforms (ERP, TMS, WMS) vary in format and maturity across the Middle East. Seamless quantum-AI interfacing is no small task.

• Workforce readiness: Few logistics professionals are trained in interpreting quantum outputs or understanding probabilistic modeling.

• Vendor lock-in: Relying on a single quantum provider may introduce long-term dependency risks if open standards don’t mature.

Still, both D‑Wave and Staque appear to be navigating these risks with a hybrid deployment model and layered user experience design.

A Quantum Leap in Freight Strategy

The D‑Wave–Staque partnership isn’t just a tech alliance—it’s a strategic signal. The Middle East is not content to be a technology importer; it wants to be a frontline innovator in logistics transformation, using every tool available—classical, AI, and now quantum.

As the global logistics system becomes more fragile due to geopolitical shifts, climate instability, and labor fluctuations, quantum optimization offers a resilience multiplier—providing better decisions, faster.

By targeting live, freight-critical domains like ports and urban logistics, this initiative may well set the precedent for global adoption of commercial quantum annealing.

Conclusion: Quantum Annealing Enters Real-World Logistics

The D‑Wave and Staque partnership marks a critical inflection point in the evolution of quantum logistics. No longer confined to academic models or isolated pilot studies, quantum annealing is being deployed to solve pressing, high-value problems in ports, warehouses, and delivery networks across the Middle East.

By combining D‑Wave’s mature quantum annealing hardware with Staque’s AI-driven local expertise, the initiative brings quantum computing directly into the operational heart of freight and supply chain management. With support from forward-looking governments in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and across the GCC, this collaboration not only accelerates regional innovation but also sets a global benchmark for how quantum technologies can deliver tangible, commercial impact today.

As the logistics industry faces increasing pressure from geopolitical, economic, and environmental disruptions, quantum-powered optimization could become a foundational layer in building agile, intelligent, and resilient supply chains. The Middle East now stands at the frontier of this shift—potentially leading the next quantum leap in global freight infrastructure.