#36
2026-03-17
Interview
37:39
⚙️ What Happens When 837 Years of Port Start Thinking?
HG
Hermann D. Grünfeld
Head of Traffic Management, Hamburg Port Authority (HPA)
Key Takeaways
- 10-15% more throughput via intelligent traffic control equals the effect of a new lane without touching any surface area
- Quantum Annealing is productive today at Hamburg Port — not quantum computing, but a powerful precursor
- A digital twin doesn't need to be beautiful, it needs to work — control beats visualization
- Data quality, availability and latency are the real bottleneck, not computing power
- Large Quantitative Models don't hallucinate — they calculate. For real infrastructure, that's the decisive difference
- Hamburg with its grown structures and real constraints is Europe's best real-world lab for AI in complex systems
Summary
Hermann D. Grünfeld, Head of Traffic Management at Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), provides insights into quantum simulation in port operations. Core thesis: A port functions not at the quay wall but through its hinterland connections. 16,000 trucks daily, 142 km of port roads, 35 traffic lights. Working with Fujitsu and TU Graz, HPA uses Quantum Annealing — computing billions of switching possibilities across six coordinated intersections, achieving 10-15% more throughput. Alois Krtil expands the view to Large Quantitative Models: physics-anchored AI systems that think in physics, not language.