Insider Brief
Zapata Quantum appointed co-founder Jhonathan Romero Fontalvo as Vice President of Product and Ian Rotondi-Gray as Senior Director of Partnerships and Go-To-Market Strategy.
Romero Fontalvo will lead product development efforts focused on tools for discovering, developing, and deploying quantum applications at scale.
Rotondi-Gray joins from enterprise software roles at Palantir and Oracle and will focus on expanding adoption of Zapata’s Quantum Application Intelligence platform.
PRESS RELEASE — Zapata Quantum (OTC: ZPTA) (“Zapata,” “Zapata Quantum” or the “Company”), a leader in quantum computing algorithm and application development, today announced the appointment of Jhonathan Romero Fontalvo, Ph.D.as Vice President of Product and Ian Rotondi-Gray as Senior Director of Partnerships and Go-To-Market Strategy, further strengthening the Company’s product development and commercial execution capabilities.
“It’s an exciting moment in quantum in which success will hinge on the ability to translate technical breakthroughs into transformative commercial outcomes,” said Sumit Kapur, CEO of Zapata Quantum. “These appointments strengthen both sides of that equation—deep product leadership and enterprise execution—and position Zapata to accelerate customer adoption and long-term growth.”
Quantum and AI Pioneer Dr. Romero Fontalvo as VP of Product
Dr. Romero Fontalvo is one of Zapata’s original co-founders and returns after a tenure at Axiomatic AI, where he helped advance the application of agentic AI to scientific discovery. As VP of Product, he will focus on developing tools that make the discovery, development, and deployment of quantum applications more systematic and scalable.
He was one of the pioneers of Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs) at Harvard prior to co-founding Zapata. VQAs were among the earliest proof points for the industry, enabling the first explorations of practical quantum computing. He also served as co-principal investigator of the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, working directly with enterprise customers to map real-world problems into viable quantum solutions.
“Knowing which applications to prioritize, when they will matter, and how to develop them is an underappreciated challenge in quantum—something we saw firsthand in our work with DARPA, BP and others,” said Romero. “I’m excited to build the next generation of tools that answer those questions, leveraging advances in quantum algorithms and AI to dramatically accelerate the discovery and development of commercially meaningful quantum applications.”
Enterprise Software Veteran Rotondi-Gray as Head of Go-To-Market
Ian Rotondi-Gray joins Zapata after previous roles driving commercial adoption of advanced technologies at Palantir and Oracle. He brings deep experience connecting emerging technologies with customer needs and commercial outcomes. As head of Go-To-Market Strategy, he will focus on accelerating adoption of Zapata’s Quantum Application Intelligence platform and expanding the Company’s commercial reach.
“What attracted me to Zapata was the foundation of credibility and impact the company has built across high-value domains,” said Rotondi-Gray. “From its work with DARPA and Fortune 500 enterprises to its leading quantum drug discovery research recognized as one of Nature Biotechnology’s Top 10 Papers of 2025, Zapata has assembled a track record that few companies in quantum, especially in software, can match. I’m excited to build on that leadership and expand the commercial adoption and real-world impact of quantum applications.”