Toward Secure, Quantum-Safe Value Chains:Why Collaboration Will Define Resilience Post Q-Day — enQase - November 12, 2025

By Staff Report - November 12th, 2025

A BizTechReports Executive Q&A with Rajesh Patil, CTO of enQase

 As the quantum era draws closer, the cybersecurity conversation is shifting from technology to trust. What was once a matter of internal encryption policy has become a test of how effectively companies can coordinate across entire ecosystems. The arrival of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) will not simply change how organizations secure data—it will redefine how they work together.

In this BizTechReports Executive Q&A, Rajesh Patil, Chief Technology Officer of enQase, describes how industries are aligning around new cryptographic standards to protect value-chain relationships from quantum disruption. He argues that resilience will depend less on any single organization’s capabilities and more on its willingness to collaborate, share intelligence, and synchronize upgrades with trading partners.

NOTE: This interview has been edited for clarity and length. The Q&A has been organized into four sections — Strategic Assessments, Operational Imperatives, Financial Implications, and Technology Development — to highlight the most pressing issues for healthcare executives.

STRATEGIC ASSESSMENTS

Full Interview with Rajesh Patil, Chief Technology Officer of enQase

 BTR: Rajesh, you’ve said that organizations can’t think of cybersecurity in isolation anymore. Why has quantum risk become a value-chain issue rather than an enterprise-specific one?

Patil: Because no one operates in isolation anymore. A modern enterprise is a network of partners exchanging data constantly—banks with payment processors, manufacturers with suppliers, logistics companies with their customers. Once data leaves your perimeter, it enters someone else’s, and their preparedness becomes part of your own risk exposure.

We see this everywhere. A large bank we work with interacts with more than 200 partner organizations. Even smaller firms easily have 20 or 30. Quantum computing raises the stakes because it targets the cryptographic backbone that connects all of these entities. You might be secure, but if one partner lags behind, your collective defenses are compromised. 

BTR: That seems like a governance problem as much as a technical one. How are larger “hub” organizations dealing with this?

Patil: Exactly—it’s governance first, technology second. The big players are starting to define minimum quantum-safe baselines for their suppliers and service providers. These baselines align with the Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite 2.0 (CNSA 2.0) and the NIST post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards. What’s encouraging is that, unlike previous technology transitions, there’s broad consensus.

If you remember the early days of electronic data interchange (EDI), every industry and region had its own flavor of the standard. It created confusion and enormous integration costs. PQC is very different. The global community—governments, researchers, and vendors—is coalescing around a common foundation. That alignment means the transition can happen more smoothly and consistently across value chains.

OPERATIONAL IMPERATIVES

BTR: What does a practical roadmap look like for organizations trying to move toward a quantum-safe environment?

Patil: The starting point is awareness—specifically, knowing what cryptographic assets you have. We encourage every organization to create a cryptographic bill of materials, or C-BoM. It’s like a software inventory but focused on algorithms, keys, and protocols. You can’t modernize what you can’t see.

At enQase, we use non-intrusive discovery tools to map where encryption lives in the environment, how it’s used, and which systems are most at risk. From there, we help clients develop a phased migration plan. You don’t replace everything overnight. You upgrade critical systems first, maintain backward compatibility, and introduce crypto-agility—the ability to run classical and post-quantum algorithms side by side.

Think of it as changing the tires on a moving car. You can’t stop operations while you modernize security. That’s why crypto-agility is so important: it lets you evolve safely without disrupting business continuity.

BTR: And this needs to happen across the entire partner ecosystem?

Patil: Absolutely. Quantum resilience requires synchronization. You can’t be quantum-safe if your data passes through partners who aren’t. That’s why many hub enterprises are starting to require attestations or readiness reports from their suppliers. In the near future, I expect to see quantum-safe compliance clauses written directly into contracts.

BTR: Beyond compliance, what are the strategic advantages for companies that get ahead of this curve?

Patil: Visibility and trust. We’re entering a phase where quantum competence becomes a business credential. Just as organizations once promoted being “cloud-first” or “ISO-certified,” they’ll soon advertise themselves as “quantum-safe.” Customers and partners will look for that assurance before sharing data or doing business.

At enQase, our mission is to make this readiness attainable for every organization, not just the largest ones. We provide the tools, automation, and expertise so that mid-market firms can meet the same standards as global enterprises. The value chain only works when everyone can participate.

BTR: That sounds like a shift in culture as much as a shift in technology.

Patil: It is. Quantum risk management changes the conversation from my network to our ecosystem. Security teams, compliance officers, suppliers, and even customers have to coordinate on timelines and testing. It’s a collective effort.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

BTR: How do you quantify the economic dimension of this transition? What are the business incentives for acting early?

Patil: The first incentive is obvious—risk reduction. Regulators now require that breaches be disclosed within 24 hours. A single failure in your value chain can have cascading reputational and financial effects.

The second incentive is insurance economics. Cyber-insurance carriers are already adjusting premiums based on quantum readiness. If you can demonstrate a C-BoM, a migration roadmap, and progress milestones, you’ll qualify for better coverage and lower rates. Firms that wait will pay more, or may even become uninsurable.

There’s also the “harvest now, decrypt later” threat. Adversaries are already collecting encrypted data today, betting they’ll decrypt it once quantum machines become viable. That means your risk exposure has already begun. The data you transmit now could be compromised in a few years.

So the economic argument is straightforward: the cost of preparation today is lower than the cost of exposure tomorrow.

TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

BTR: You mentioned earlier that PQC adoption is more unified than EDI ever was. Can you elaborate on that convergence?

Patil: Yes, and it’s one of the most encouraging aspects of this moment. NIST has finalized algorithms such as CRYSTALS-Kyber for encryption and CRYSTALS-Dilithium for digital signatures, and these are now being integrated into products from major technology vendors. The CNSA 2.0 framework gives organizations a clear set of levels—essentially, a roadmap for which algorithms and key sizes to use based on sensitivity and mission.

Because everyone is building on the same foundation, we’re avoiding the patchwork problem that plagued earlier standards. A manufacturer in Germany, a bank in Singapore, and a cloud provider in the U.S. can all adopt compatible approaches. That’s critical for global value chains where data routinely crosses borders.

BTR: What about governance? How do organizations make sure these standards are applied consistently?

Patil: Governance is the hard part. Technology alone won’t solve this. You need to bake cryptographic verification into change management and DevSecOps pipelines. Every code deployment should include automated scans that confirm no outdated or non-approved algorithms are reintroduced. 

And it doesn’t stop at your own perimeter. Managed service providers, software vendors, and integration partners must be contractually obligated to follow the same controls. Quantum safety can’t be delegated—it has to be shared.

BTR: How do you see this collaboration evolving over the next few years?

Patil: I think we’ll see sector-specific alliances forming to share best practices—similar to what financial institutions did for fraud prevention or what manufacturers did for supply-chain transparency. Some industries are already doing this. In defense and finance, for example, partners are exchanging playbooks and conducting joint quantum-safety drills.

The next step is normalization. Just as SOC 2 or GDPR compliance became routine, quantum-safe certification will become table stakes for doing business. The difference is that this time, the focus will be on cross-organizational alignment. The companies that start collaborating now will avoid the disruption later.

BTR: And for those still waiting on the sidelines?

Patil: The message is simple: start now. Create visibility through a C-BoM, engage your partners, and set milestones. Quantum resilience isn’t just about surviving a new threat—it’s about earning trust in a digital economy that depends on collaboration. The sooner organizations treat it that way, the smoother the journey will be.

BizTechReports Perspective:

 The shift to post-quantum cryptography marks a new chapter in enterprise risk management—one that extends beyond the firewall and into the shared fabric of digital business. With NIST and CNSA 2.0 driving convergence, industries now have the rare advantage of building on a single, globally aligned foundation. The challenge is no longer technical fragmentation but operational synchronization. Organizations that master coordination across their value chains today will become the trusted digital partners of tomorrow.