JPMorgan has hired Rob Otter, who is State Street’s global head of digital technology and quantum computing, to replace Pistoia, according to an employee memo sent Monday.
JPMorgan Chase has overhauled the leadership of its internal research group responsible for quantum computing and other forms of advanced technology, hiring a State Street executive, CNBC has learned.
Marco Pistoia, the former IBM inventor who became head of JPMorgan’s applied research group in 2020, has recently left the bank, according to a person briefed on the matter, who declined to be identified speaking about personnel.
That group conducted research into how emerging technologies including quantum computing and communications, blockchain, computer vision and networking could solve problems in finance.
JPMorgan has hired Rob Otter, who is State Street’s global head of digital technology and quantum computing, to replace Pistoia, according to an employee memo sent Monday.
Before joining State Street in 2022, Otter was head of JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain business and worked in technology roles at Barclays, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.
Quantum computing has the potential for huge advances over traditional computing and is expected to have applications in finance, drug development and materials science, among other fields. Tech giants including Alphabet and IBM are racing to create a reliable quantum computer with commercial applications, while small publicly traded quantum companies like Rigetti Computing and D-Wave have seen their shares surge over enthusiasm in the nascent field.
One of Pistoia’s deputies, Charles Lim, who was the bank’s global head for quantum communications and cryptography, has also departed, according to the person familiar with the changes.
JPMorgan had touted the credentials of Pistoia and Lim while the firm was building out its research group. Pistoia has at least 270 patents, according to a 2023 biography, and had been named a “Master Inventor” at IBM, a title given to researchers who regularly produce valuable patents.
Pistoia didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment. Lim couldn’t be reached.
