Visionaries’ Viewpoints: Strategic Insights on HPC, AI, and Quantum
May 5, 2026
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Online
May 5, 2026
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Online
About the Session
High performance computing stands at a critical intersection where the rapid evolution of hardware—driven by AI, machine learning, and quantum breakthroughs—often outpaces our collective ability to adapt software, applications, and workflows, and to scale up the future workforce, resources, and funding.
Join the Google Cloud Advanced Computing Community for a conversation among thought leaders and visionaries about the future of advanced computing and emerging technologies, challenges, and opportunities ahead that will inform how we design, deliver, develop for, and use HPC, AI, quantum computing, and other advanced computing technologies.
This conversation will span:
Advanced hardware and software technologies and how they are evolving under the market influence of AI
The future traditional simulation in the era digital twins, and AI surrogates
How agentic AI will augment scientists and engineers–and whether it will increase or decrease the demand for them, and for computing resources
The role of quantum computing in HPC and in AI
What are the next emerging technologies that may shape the future of computational science and engineering?
This event will provide practitioners with a preview and a roadmap of the challenges, opportunities, and technological expectations that will define the next decade of advanced computing.
Speakers
Thuc Hoang
Deputy Assistant Deputy Administrator of the Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Thuc Hoang is currently the Deputy Assistant Deputy Administrator of the Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) and Institutional Research and Development Programs in the Office of Defense Programs, within the Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The ASC program develops and deploys high-performance simulation capabilities and computational resources, including high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, to support the NNSA’s annual stockpile assessment and certification, and other nuclear security missions. She has almost 34 years of service with DOE and has been serving as a program manager for the ASC program in various capacities since December 1995, most recently as the Federal Program Manager of the NNSA Exascale Computing Initiative. Ms. Hoang holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Bill Magro
Director and Chief Technologist, High Performance Computing, Google Cloud
William (Bill) Magro is Chief Technologist for High Performance Computing at Google, where he drives HPC strategy and customer success for Google Cloud. Magro joined Google in 2020, after 20 years at Intel, where he was Intel Fellow and Chief Technologist for HPC. There, he served as a key strategist and driver for Intel’s HPC business, with a focus on software, solutions, and emerging technologies and trends, including HPC/Cloud and Exascale Computing.
A recognized leader in the InfiniBand industry, Magro helped found the OpenFabrics Alliance and served as InfiniBand Trade Association Technical Working Group co-chair from 2007-2020. Magro has been a prominent voice in the HPC community for over two decades and regularly participates and presents in HPC conferences, advisory boards, and panels.
He joined Intel in 2000 with the acquisition of Kuck & Associates Inc. (KAI). Prior to KAI, Magro spent 3 years as a post-doctoral fellow and staff member at the Cornell Theory Center at Cornell University. He holds a bachelor's degree in applied and engineering physics from Cornell University and a master's degree and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Daniel Reed
Presidential Professor Emeritus in Computational Science, University of Utah
Daniel A. Reed is the Presidential Professor Emeritus in Computational Science at the University of Utah, where he previously served as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. His distinguished career spans leadership roles in academia and industry, including serving as Corporate Vice President for Technology Policy and Extreme Computing at Microsoft and Director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois.
A former chair of the National Science Board and the Department of Energy’s ASCAC, Dr. Reed has also served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). He was the founding director of RENCI and is a Fellow of the ACM, IEEE, and AAAS. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Purdue University. Outside of his professional work, he is an amateur astronomer and ham radio operator (KK7EUJ).