Alan Baratz

SVP, Software & Applications

Lonergan Partners is pleased to announce that Alan Baratz has been named Senior Vice President, Software and Applications at D-Wave. The search was led by Dotty Schaffer.

About Alan

Alan has over 30 years of leadership experience in software platforms and communications technology. Most recently, he served as EVP of Marketing & New Business Strategy at Symphony Communication Services. Prior to this role, Alan was President and Chief Executive Officer at Alert GPS. Previously, he served as SVP & President of Global Communications Solutions at Avaya, and SVP of Network Software and Systems. Alan has also held Chief Executive Officer roles at NeoPath Networks, Versata and Zaplet and served as Managing Director of E.M.Warburg, Pincus and Company. Earlier, as the first President of the Software Products and Platforms (JavaSoft) division at Sun Microsystems, Alan grew Java into a robust platform that supports mission-critical applications in nearly 80 percent of the Fortune 1000.

He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in Computer Science from University of California, Los Angeles.

About D-Wave

Founded in 1999, D-Wave Systems is the leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems and software, and the world’s only commercial supplier of quantum computers. Their mission is to unlock the power of quantum computing for the world. They believe that quantum computing will enable solutions to the most challenging national defense, scientific, technical, and commercial problems. D-Wave’s systems are being used by some of the world’s most advanced organizations, including Lockheed Martin, Google, NASA Ames, USRA, USC, and Los Alamos National Laboratory

Placement Update

Burnaby, Canada – Dec. 9, 2019 -- D-Wave Systems Inc., the leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, today announced that Dr. Alan Baratz will assume the role of chief executive officer (CEO), effective January 1, 2020. Baratz joined D-Wave in 2017 and currently serves as the chief product officer and executive vice president of research and development for D-Wave. He takes over from the retiring CEO, Vern Brownell.

Baratz’s promotion to CEO follows the launch of Leap™, D-Wave’s quantum cloud service, in October 2018, and comes in advance of the mid-2020 launch of the company’s next-generation quantum system, Advantage™.

Baratz has driven the development, delivery, and support of all of D-Wave’s products, technologies, and applications in recent years. He has over 25 years of experience in product development and bringing new products to market at leading technology companies and software startups. As the first president of JavaSoft at Sun Microsystems, Baratz oversaw the growth and adoption of the Java platform from its infancy to a robust platform supporting mission-critical applications in nearly 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies. He has also held executive positions at Symphony, Avaya, Cisco, and IBM. He served as CEO and president of Versata, Zaplet, and NeoPath Networks, and as a managing director at Warburg Pincus LLC. Baratz holds a doctorate in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I joined D-Wave to bring quantum computing technology to the enterprise. Now more than ever, I am convinced that making practical quantum computing available to forward-thinking businesses and emerging quantum developers through the cloud is central to jumpstarting the broad development of in-production quantum applications,” said Baratz, chief product officer and head of research and development. “As I assume the CEO role, I’ll focus on expanding the early beachheads for quantum computing that exist in manufacturing, mobility, new materials creation, and financial services into real value for our customers. I am honored to take over the leadership of the company and work together with the D-Wave team as we begin to deliver real business results with our quantum computers.”

The company also announced that CEO Vern Brownell has decided to retire at the end of the year in order to spend more time at his home in Boston with his family. Baratz will become CEO at that time. During Brownell’s tenure, D-Wave developed four generations of commercial quantum computers, raised over $170 million in venture funding, and secured its first customers, including Lockheed Martin, Google and NASA, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Brownell will continue to serve as an advisor to the board.

“There are very few moments in your life when you have the opportunity to build an entirely new market. My 10 years at D-Wave have been rich with breakthroughs, like selling the first commercial quantum computer. I am humbled to have been a part of building the quantum ecosystem,” said Brownell, retiring D-Wave CEO. “Alan has shown tremendous leadership in our technology and product development efforts, and I am working with him to transition leadership of the entire business. This is an exciting time for quantum computing and an exciting time for D-Wave. I can’t imagine a better leader than Alan at the helm for the next phase of bringing practical quantum computing to enterprises around the world.”

“With cloud access and the development of more than 200 early applications, quantum computing is experiencing explosive growth. We are excited to recognize Alan’s work in bringing Leap to market and building the next-generation Advantage system. And as D-Wave expands their Quantum-as-a-Service offerings, Alan’s expertise with growing developer communities and delivering SaaS solutions to enterprises will be critical for D-Wave’s success in the market,” said Paul Lee, D-Wave board chair. “I want to thank Vern for his 10 years of contributions to D-Wave. He was central in our ability to be the first to commercialize quantum computers and has made important contributions not only to D-Wave, but also in building the quantum ecosystem.”

Alan has led the development of hugely successful software and platform products over the course of his career, and he will be a vital asset as we continue to enhance our software capabilities. His expertise and leadership will help us develop the software that is at the heart of delivering new solutions to real world problems.

Vern Brownell, CEO, D-Wave

Quantum Computing is on the verge of changing almost everything in our lives, and D-Wave is at the forefront of that change. I am thrilled to be joining the D-Wave team to help create the software infrastructure, tools and applications that will be a critical component of the success of D-Wave and Quantum Computing.

Alan Baratz, SVP Software & Applications, D-Wave

Alan Baratz has the technical ability as well as the strategic vision to lead D-Wave into this new computing paradigm. His breadth and depth spans from hardware architecture, operating systems to applications. I’m thrilled to bring D-Wave his talent and excited to see the great things Alan and the D-Wave team will achieve.

Dotty Schaffer, Partner, Lonergan Partners