OP Pohjola and quantum-AI startup Qutwo launch joint Helsinki research unit for banking and insurance
The unit, named the Quantum and AI Research Centre, builds on years of prior AI and quantum research at the Finnish financial group and is expected to grow to around 60 specialists by mid-2027.
Text by Martti Asikainen, 27.7.2026 | Photo by OP Pohjola
OP Pohjola and the Helsinki-based startup Qutwo announced in February 2026 the launch of a joint research unit, the Quantum and AI Research Centre (QARC), focused on applying quantum computing and AI to financial services. OP Pohjola said the unit is expected to grow to around 60 specialists by the middle of 2027, drawing on talent from Finland and internationally.
“We want to invest early in future capabilities by establishing, together with Qutwo, a research unit focused on advanced applications of AI and quantum computing in the financial sector. At the same time, we are strengthening our own competitiveness and position as a pioneer in financial services,” said Timo Ritakallio, OP Pohjola’s chief executive.
The unit will have access to Qutwo’s platform, Qutwo OS, which the company describes as an orchestration layer for routing computing workloads across classical processors, quantum-inspired systems and emerging quantum hardware.
Where the two companies see potential
OP Pohjola said it has developed AI systematically since 2017 and has researched quantum computing’s potential since 2019, framing the new unit as an extension of that existing work rather than a new direction.
The company described quantum computing as the next major technological shift, one it expects could substantially enhance AI capabilities and open new possibilities for the financial sector.
Coverage of the partnership in Global Finance Magazine, citing OP Pohjola, pointed to risk management, investment optimisation and fraud detection as areas where quantum computing and AI could improve on the speed and precision of conventional computing methods.
Neither company set out a timeline for when any resulting tools might reach customers, or specified how much of the unit’s near-term work would rely on genuine quantum hardware as opposed to classical systems simulating quantum-style computation, an approach Qutwo has previously described as “quantum-inspired.”
Peter Sarlin, a prominent figure in Finland’s AI sector and the founder of Qutwo, said the partnership reflected an approach he believes Europe should take toward building technological independence.
“Quantum computing and AI are no longer a distant future — they are a strategic competitive advantage being built now,” he said, adding that OP Pohjola’s decision to partner with Qutwo showed “important foresight and commitment.”
A fast-moving second act
Sarlin founded Qutwo in February 2026, around the same time as the OP Pohjola announcement.
He had previously built and led Silo AI, a Finnish AI lab he sold to the chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices for $665 million in July 2024, before leaving his role as chief executive of the AMD unit roughly eighteen months after that deal.
Qutwo was initially funded through Sarlin’s own family office before raising a €25 million angel round in May 2026, which valued the company at €325 million, backed by individual investors including Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström and French telecoms entrepreneur Xavier Niel rather than traditional venture capital firms.
Qutwo has said it intends to grow its own headcount to around 100 people during 2026, and counts the fashion retailer Zalando among its enterprise customers.
Commercially useful quantum computers remain, by most industry accounts, years away from wide deployment, and Qutwo’s own positioning as an orchestration layer for both classical and quantum systems reflects that timeline: much of the unit’s early work is likely to run on conventional high-performance computing rather than quantum hardware itself.
Whether the partnership delivers the advantages OP Pohjola describes will depend heavily on how quickly genuine quantum advantage becomes available for financial applications — a question neither company’s original announcement addressed directly.
