As the hardware improves, the size of problems that can be offloaded to quantum will grow.

So for a logistics company today, what's the practical step? Should they start experimenting?

Absolutely. Most quantum vendors offer cloud access. You can start with a small pilot — say, optimizing the routing for a single depot. The cost is relatively low, and the learning curve is manageable if you have a good data science team.

And the potential savings are huge. The global logistics market is over $8 trillion, and transportation costs account for a big chunk. Even a 1% efficiency gain is billions of dollars.

On a micro level, consider a small delivery company with 20 trucks. Better routing could mean fewer miles driven, less fuel burned, faster deliveries. That's a competitive advantage.

And it's not just trucks. Quantum optimization can apply to air freight, shipping, public transit. Anywhere you have a fleet and a set of destinations.

Right the same math that routes a delivery truck can route a fleet of drones or an airline's fleet of planes. The constraints change, but the core problem — find the best sequence — is the same.

So what's the biggest barrier to adoption right now, besides cost?