The Quantum Collective - Carolyn Ten Holter

The Quantum Collective: The people behind the science

As Policy Lead at the University of Oxford's Responsible Technology Institute, Carolyn Ten Holter is at the forefront of understanding and shaping the responsible development of emerging technologies such as quantum computing.

With a diverse career background spanning industry, entrepreneurship, and now academia, Carolyn brings a unique perspective to her work. Working with the Hub she has been involved in variety of activities, including a collaborative partnership project with EY which led to a joint whitepaper, and most recently a public dialogue exercise investigating attitudes from across the UK to quantum computing.

When explaining what she does to those unfamiliar with her work, Carolyn notes that people sometimes "..associate the word research with people who wear a white coat or do things in labs. ... My research is often around talking to people - digging into what they do, and why they do it, and why they've approached a particular research question in a particular way."

Her research involves talking to a wide range of stakeholders, from technology companies to civil society organisations and government, to understand their varying perspectives on key questions related to the responsible development of technologies like quantum computing and AI. "Sometimes that leads down interesting rabbit holes," Carolyn remarks. "You get a sense of the different perspectives that people are bringing to similar questions, and the breadth of the issues involved."

Sometimes by asking people a question you prompt them to think about what the answer ought to be. It might be something they haven't asked themselves or that they haven't encountered before.

When asked what excites Carolyn most about her work, she explains that it is the potential to make an impact. "Occasionally it's the opportunity to have an influence, because sometimes by asking people a question you prompt them to think about what the answer ought to be. It might be something they haven't asked themselves or that they haven't encountered before. It's a technique referred to as 'action research' where talking to people and asking questions can generate its own momentum. So you're not just looking at what's there, you're having an effect by actually starting these conversations."

Sometimes, she explains, people can walk away from an interview feeling prompted by the conversation to examine how and why their organisation is doing things a certain way. "So that's always really exciting - feeling like you've actually made a difference to the people that you're working with."

Carolyn's current projects span both quantum computing and AI. On the quantum side, she recently worked on a government response to a regulatory report, engaging stakeholders across the quantum ecosystem. In AI, she's involved in a fascinating project bringing responsible innovation tools directly into the workflows of an AI company, studying how this influences their practices. While the two are in many ways very different technologies, Carolyn sees important commonalities in terms of their potentially huge societal impacts and the governance challenges they present. "They're both potentially influential in terms of people's daily lives" she observes.

Carolyn's ability to navigate these complex, interdisciplinary challenges is informed by an unconventional career path. "I'm a great believer in not thinking about a series of jobs as a career," she says. "I think that's a kind of retrospective narrative that you can place on a series of decisions." Her varied background - spanning fields as diverse as business development, communications, law, IT, software modelling, and entrepreneurship - shapes her current work in myriad ways.

I feel really lucky to work in such a gorgeous place...The number of times I'll be pottering around the city and be blown away by a particular vista, or it's an early morning and the sun's coming out on the buildings and it's just so beautiful.

"Nothing's ever wasted," Carolyn reflects. "I use so many bits and pieces that I've picked up along the way." Her experience in startups, for instance, gives her an invaluable perspective when engaging with tech transfer offices and spinout companies in her research. "I know how to talk about investment startups. I know about management accounting. I know some of the trials and tribulations brand new companies go through, because I've worked in that area myself. It's often a good shortcut to understanding a lot of the challenges that people face in those areas, which is not a standard set of knowledge for an academic to have. It's great to be able to bring that prior knowledge to the table... I would be a strong proponent of doing as many different things as possible in a career."

Carolyn has been working on a number of projects with  the Quantum Computing and Simulation Hub and is keen to explain the benefits it brings to her research. The range of connections the Hub's network brings are particularly valuable to her. She explains that the Hub "gives you an in" to a wide variety of disciplines. "If I want to talk to somebody who is on the other side of the Hub, and they're doing something interesting and relevant, it helps coming through the Hub [...]  There's great cross-pollination. I go to Hub events and symposia and you see the conversations and the collaborations that that build in the discussions that people have."

Carolyn considers herself incredibly fortunate to be working at the University of Oxford, not just because of the reach and convening power it provides, but also because of the city itself.  "I feel really lucky to work in such a gorgeous place." she says. "The number of times I'll be pottering around the city and be blown away by a particular vista, or it's an early morning and the sun's coming out on the buildings and it's just so beautiful."

Looking ahead, Carolyn would love to see her work contribute to addressing major challenges like climate change, though she recognises the pathway there for quantum computing is not yet clear. More immediately, she's excited to be part of the engine helping ensure these powerful emerging technologies develop in a "sensible and well ordered and well thought through" direction. With collaboration across disciplines and between academia, industry, and government, she believes we can harness the transformative potential of quantum computing for the benefit of society.