Vancouver’s Photonic is strengthening its leadership team as the quantum computing company moves deeper into commercialization.
The company announced this week that Orlagh Neary has joined as Chief Marketing Officer, while Briony Shipman has been appointed Vice President of Global Government Affairs.
The hires follow Photonic’s final close of more than $200 million in May, which value the business at nearly $3 billion. The company says the appointments add commercial, policy, and ecosystem expertise as it works to scale its distributed quantum computing platform.
Photonic, headquartered in Vancouver, is developing commercial-scale quantum computers and quantum networks using its Entanglement First architecture, which leverages optically linked silicon spin qubits. The company says the approach is designed to enable computation at scale while integrating with existing data centre and telecom environments.
Neary joins Photonic from Microsoft, where she spent more than two decades working across enterprise AI, cloud, and quantum computing. Most recently, she served as General Manager of Microsoft Quantum and AI Ecosystem Engagement. She is also the founder of The ORB Network Foundation, a professional community focused on advancing women in business and leadership.
Photonic is a member of the BC Tech Association.
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According to Photonic, Neary will help sharpen the company’s market position and deepen its engagement with partners as quantum technologies move closer to practical commercial use.
“For quantum to deliver on its potential, the technology and the ecosystem need to advance together,” Neary said.
Shipman joins Photonic after serving at Lloyds Banking Group as head of Cyber and Physical Defence, Data Security and Supply Chain. Before that, she spent 14 years with Government Communications Headquarters, the United Kingdom’s intelligence, security, and cyber agency.
Her background includes operational, policy, and technical leadership roles, as well as extensive work with the UK’s Five Eyes allies. That included a three-and-a-half-year posting as Head of Liaison to Canada.
At Photonic, Shipman will lead global government affairs as the company builds relationships across public-sector, national-security, and international policy environments.
“My experience building relationships with governments and working within complex policy environments around the world is a perfect fit for Photonic’s global ambitions,” Shipman said.
Photonic CEO Don Mattrick said the appointments reflect the company’s belief that market-building will be as important as technology development in quantum’s next phase.
“Orlagh and Briony bring the commercial, policy, and ecosystem expertise to help translate Photonic’s innovation into the partnerships, trust, and outcomes that will define quantum’s next chapter,” Mattrick said.
The leadership additions come amid a busy stretch for Photonic. In late 2025, the company advanced to Stage B of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative after meeting Stage A requirements. It has also been selected for Phase 1 of the Canadian Quantum Champions Program, a federal initiative aimed at accelerating fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Photonic now has more than 160 employees across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
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