From the discovery of X-rays in Germany to the invention of wind turbines in Scotland or Bluetooth in Sweden, Europe’s history of innovation is as old as modern science itself. The continent has given the world radio waves, antibiotics and even the coffee filter. Ideas that changed everyday life shaped entire industries and made mornings feel a little better.

Europe has a strong tradition of innovation, yet as Mario Draghi, the former President of the European Central Bank, notes in his 2024 report, European growth and competitiveness are being outpaced by other regions. The issue isn’t talent – it’s converting innovation into commercial success.

Yet the next chapter in the technological revolution could tell a different story.

In one of the most promising yet complex frontiers of science – quantum computing – Europe is making targeted investments that are beginning to produce real capability. Nowhere is this leadership more evident than in Denmark.

Just north of Copenhagen, Microsoft has opened a new state-of-the-art Quantum Lab in Lyngby, now the company’s largest quantum site globally and a key part of Microsoft’s long-term commitment to Europe’s quantum future. Through collaboration, Microsoft contributes its expertise to help European innovation scale globally while being built locally.

At the helm is Lauri Sainiemi, the engineer leading Microsoft’s quantum laboratories in Denmark. He is the Corporate Vice President of Quantum Fabrication at Microsoft and has been with the company for nearly 15 years.

For Sainiemi, quantum isn’t just a research field; it’s a chance to help shape a new paradigm for computing and, ultimately, enable innovations that can lead to a better future.

“What motivates me most is the potential of the future applications,” he says. “Quantum computing could help solve global challenges, from carbon capture to clean water and energy. As a father of two young children that matters to me.”

The need to collaborate to be competitive

What is happening in Lyngby is part of a broader shift. Across Europe, quantum is becoming a strategic priority driven by political vision, a growing belief in its impact on competitiveness and long-term investments.

With the Quantum Europe Strategy, the European Union has set a clear ambition to lead in quantum technologies by 2030, building on decades of scientific strength, an expanding ecosystem of public and private investment, and collaboration with trusted international partners. Denmark’s tech ambassador, Anne Marie Engtoft Meldgaard, who represents the Danish government to the global tech industry and in international forums on emerging technologies, sees quantum as a unique European opportunity.

“We are at a remarkable moment for quantum technology,” Meldgaard says. “For the first time in decades, Europe is not just a user of technology but in the front seat of the development, driven by optimism, and by the belief that quantum can become a significant business driver while helping address major societal challenges.”

But optimism alone is not enough, she stresses. To turn scientific strength into long-term impact, Europe needs the right structures in place.

“If Europe wants to stay at the forefront, we need continued high political ambitions, larger investments and a clearer path from lab research to real-world applications,” Meldgaard says. “We must foster an ecosystem that enables European companies to turn talent and research into innovation and innovation into competitiveness.”

Her assessment reflects a wider reality: Beyond physics, quantum computing is poised to transform industries, from accelerating drug discovery to enabling more secure financial transactions or optimizing logistics networks around the world. As Meldgaard puts it, “In 10 years, all major European companies will need a head of quantum.”

For Europe, the challenge is not a lack of scientific talent; it is turning that talent into scalable innovation, says Sainiemi. Europe leads in quantum research, but it lacks the funding traditions and scale that help tech businesses grow.

“We need to collaborate to be competitive,” he says. “If every country tries to build everything on its own, we will spend our resources solving the same problems. And without the right funding mechanisms, European companies cannot grow at the pace we see elsewhere.”

This is also where global and European partners play a decisive role. Sustained collaboration across borders, between universities, research labs and industries, is essential for Europe to lead and compete globally. By partnering with researchers across the continent and the world, companies like Microsoft help accelerate innovation and strengthen the European quantum ecosystem to turn scientific strength into a commercial success. In quantum, leadership is not built in isolation. It is built together.

Investing in Europe’s quantum future

Back in Lyngby, the atmosphere inside Microsoft’s new Quantum Lab reflects the momentum. Through glass corridors and cleanrooms, engineers and researchers move among machines and instruments. Tubes, chambers, computers and exotic materials give the labs an almost space-station feel, while experiments run at extreme precision to build the next generation of topological qubits.

The Lyngby facility is now Microsoft’s largest quantum lab globally, and a cornerstone of the company’s long-term investment in Europe’s quantum ecosystem. Over two decades, Microsoft’s total quantum investments in Denmark have surpassed DKK 1 billion ($155.7 million). The team in Lyngby brings together physicists, material scientists, micro- and nanofabrication experts and software engineers representing more than 20 nationalities.

“Having the entire workflow under one roof accelerates our innovation cycle,” Sainiemi says. “We no longer need to ship samples between different sites. We gain full control over every step in the process, and we improve security. But perhaps most important is the team aspect: Now our researchers can work side by side, build on each other’s ideas and move faster together.”

This approach is also reflected in where the work is taking place. Microsoft has chosen to locate the core of its quantum development in Europe, with Lyngby as a central hub, building advanced quantum capabilities close to the talent, research environments and partners that support them.

Microsoft is rethinking how AI can accelerate science also in hardware engineering. AI is present everywhere in Microsoft’s new lab. AI has enabled customization of the fabrication tool software in a novel way that gives much more accurate process control for the engineers. The adaptive agents guided by Microsoft Copilot are monitoring the tools and processes constantly and helping scientists and engineers to converge to optimal solutions with fewer iterations, accelerating the rate of innovation and progress.

At the heart of the work is the development of topological qubits, the foundation of Microsoft’s “Majorana 1” chip, a technology rooted in two decades of research and innovation in Denmark.