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Across the Gulf, a decisive shift is taking place, one that will define the region’s economic competitiveness for the next decade. In 2025, we saw Gulf governments take bold, strategic steps to prepare for a world where quantum computers can break today’s encryption. The UAE’s National Encryption Policy, now in development, is one of the most forward-leaning national initiatives anywhere in the world.

And Bahrain’s landmark agreement with SandboxAQ to deploy our cryptography and identity-management platform across more than 60 government agencies marks one of the first sovereign-level commitments to building a quantum-safe digital infrastructure.

These are not symbolic moves. They reflect a clear regional intent to establish the Gulf as one of the world’s first quantum-safe economies. And the implications for the private sector are profound.

Why this, why now

For many years, quantum computing has existed in the realm of theoretical physics and long-term speculation. That changed this year. IBM’s demonstration of the Loon chip provided the clearest engineering pathway yet to fault-tolerant quantum computers by 2029. With this, “Q-Day” (the moment at which quantum machines can break current encryption) has also shifted from an abstract concern to an imminent operational deadline. Boards can no longer treat this as a long term threat; the window is now three to four years.

And while quantum decryption may still be several development cycles away, the threat is already active. “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” attacks are taking place today, with hostile actors stealing encrypted data in anticipation of future quantum breakthroughs. That means critical data stolen this year could be decrypted in 2029. For governments and enterprises alike, that four-year horizon is no longer distant, it is barely sufficient.

The criticality of a quantum-safe economy

One of the reasons Gulf governments are acting early is their recognition that encryption is not a technical detail. It is the foundation of national security, digital transactions, healthcare records, aviation, communications, and every critical infrastructure sector. The quantum threat strikes at the very heart of digital trust.

By taking a national-level approach, Gulf nations are not simply upgrading cryptography. They are building the architecture of a quantum-safe economy. This carries enormous advantages. Every nation will eventually have to transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), but those who move first enjoy outsized benefits. These would include strengthened digital sovereignty, reduced long-term remediation costs, enhanced attractiveness to foreign investors, and the ability to set the standards others follow. In this respect, the Gulf is on track to become a global reference model for quantum-safe transformation.

Government leads, private sector follows

One of the defining features of digital transformation in the Gulf is the way governments set the pace and the private sector rapidly aligns. We saw this in cloud adoption, where national cloud strategies accelerated enterprise migration. We saw it in blockchain, in the early embrace of cryptocurrency regulation, and again in the region’s rapid, coordinated mobilisation around artificial intelligence.

Mohammed Aboul-Magd, VP of Product, Cybersecurity Group, SandboxAQ

Post-quantum cryptography will follow the same pattern. Gulf governments are not merely signalling intent. They are putting structure, policy and timelines behind it. Drawing on global best practice, the UAE’s upcoming National Encryption Policy, is likely to include mandatory automated inventory of cryptographic assets, phased timelines for retiring vulnerable algorithms such as RSA and ECC, and requirements for crypto-agility i.e. the ability to rotate keys or change algorithms without rewriting code or disrupting operations.

These same principles will inevitably cascade into the private sector. Financial services firms, healthcare providers, telecom operators and operators of critical infrastructure will be the first to feel the regulatory impact, especially those handling government data or operating long-lived assets where “identity debt” has accumulated for years. Government contractors will likely need to produce software bills of materials proving their cryptographic hygiene.

Companies that act now, well ahead of regulation, will gain a clear competitive advantage. They will be easier to partner with, faster to certify, and better protected against real-world threats already unfolding today.

From compliance to collaboration

Yet the greatest opportunity for the private sector lies not in meeting compliance deadlines but in shaping the infrastructure of a quantum-safe economy. Transitioning a nation from classical to quantum-resistant cryptography requires immense “plumbing”—scalable automation, legacy system integration, cryptographic orchestration and talent development.

This cannot be achieved by governments alone. The private sector will be instrumental in deploying the tooling, solving the last-mile integration challenges, modernising identity systems and ensuring that quantum-safe standards are deeply embedded into the region’s digital backbone.

Don’t wait for Q-Day

The Gulf is entering a defining moment in its technological trajectory. Quantum computing is no longer a distant scientific aspiration and governments across the region have rightly signalled their intent to lead the world in quantum-safe security.

But national ambition alone is not enough. The success of a quantum-safe economy depends on the leadership of its private sector, its banks, hospitals, telcos, manufacturers, energy giants and contractors, who collectively operate the systems that keep societies moving.

For private-sector leaders, this is not merely a compliance exercise. It is a strategic inflection point. Acting now transforms cryptography from a hidden technical concern into a source of competitive advantage. It positions organisations as trusted partners to government. It strengthens resilience against adversaries who are already collecting encrypted data. And it opens the door to deeper public-private collaboration in building the digital foundations of the region.

The writer is VP of Product, Cybersecurity Group, SandboxAQ