Abstract: As cryptographic standards evolve, enterprise architectures must support hybrid operational modes without code modifications. This paper presents an autonomous key orchestration engine that negotiates encryption methods based on policy, latency requirements, and physical link availability.
Not all enterprise data requires instantaneous one-time-pad protection. The gateway evaluates packet classification headers, routing Tier-1 sovereign financial transfers through pure QKD one-time-pads while protecting Tier-2 corporate collaboration streams via FIPS 203 ML-KEM encapsulation.
When transitioning between algorithms (e.g. from Kyber to ML-KEM final NIST release), the gateway negotiates dual-handshake sessions across endpoints, rotating encryption algorithms mid-stream without terminating TCP connections or dropping active state sessions.
Field deployment data demonstrates that intelligent policy tiering reduces physical QKD key consumption by 74% while maintaining top-tier security for sensitive payload segments, enabling a single metro QKD link to protect thousands of enterprise branch offices.