Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen joins Israeli quantum tech company Quantum X Labs
The former intelligence chief has been appointed president of Quantum X Labs’ Scientific Advisory Board, where he will help shape its strategy and commercialization efforts in quantum computing, sensing, cybersecurity and GPS-denied navigation.
About a month and a half after former Mossad chief Dadi Barnea was appointed president and global chairman of defense holding group Ondas, his predecessor, Yossi Cohen, has also made a move into the private sector. Cohen has been appointed president of the Scientific Advisory Board of Quantum X Labs (QXL), an Israeli quantum technology company traded on Nasdaq.
QXL is a startup founded roughly two years ago that focuses on multidisciplinary quantum technologies, including quantum computing, quantum error correction, quantum cybersecurity and quantum sensing. Its portfolio also includes technologies aimed at developing quantum-based alternatives to GPS, precision timing systems and solutions based on atomic accuracy. The company was founded by Prof. Nir Sharon of Tel Aviv University and Yaki Baranes, who previously served as a senior executive at strategic consulting firm Baker Tilly.
“We didn't appoint Yossi Cohen to this role just to have an honorary name on our letterhead,” Baranes, QXL’s co-CEO, said. “We are developing a range of unique capabilities, including quantum sensing for navigation and timing, a quantum error-correction decoder, and quantum cybersecurity, that will be tested in the real world, not only in the laboratory.”
Cohen served as director of the Mossad from 2016 to 2021, after serving as Israel’s national security adviser from 2013 to 2016 and as deputy director of the Mossad. He spent 38 years in intelligence and national security before moving into the private sector.
Since leaving public service, Cohen has also become involved in technology investment. He joined SoftBank in 2021 to lead the company’s activities in Israel Vision Fund 2, where he was involved in identifying and supporting growth-stage technology companies, including investments in Israeli cybersecurity companies. In August 2026, he was appointed a strategic adviser to SoftBank, expanding his work into areas including AI infrastructure, cloud data centers and semiconductor companies serving those markets.
Cohen said that before taking his new role at QXL, he had evaluated several companies operating in the deep-tech and quantum sectors. “I chose to join Quantum X Labs because I found a rare combination of exceptional human capital and significant technological potential,” he said. “My years in senior leadership roles, including at the Mossad, taught me to recognize the unique combination of people, technology, and vision needed to create meaningful impact. I see that combination at Quantum X Labs.”
Cohen will serve alongside Prof. Oren Kurland of the Technion and Prof. Oren Raz of the Weizmann Institute of Science on QXL’s Scientific Advisory Board.
The company said Cohen will help shape its strategic direction across quantum computing, quantum error correction, quantum software for clinical trials, quantum cybersecurity and quantum sensing, with a particular focus on expanding the company’s operations and commercializing its technologies for the defense, aerospace, homeland security and critical infrastructure markets.
Among QXL’s technologies is Quantum Gyro, which is developing quantum-based gyroscope chips for highly precise, jamming-resistant navigation in GPS-denied environments. The company is also developing next-generation atomic clocks for precision timing, a neutral-atom quantum computing platform and an AI-driven quantum error-correction architecture.
According to the company, Cohen will also help advance international partnerships and translate QXL’s intellectual property and technologies into government, operational and commercial programs.
