3 November 2026 (BRUSSELS) — Altana, the AI operating system for global trade, today announced that Ricardo Treviño Chapa, most recently Deputy Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and former General Administrator of Customs of Mexico, has joined the company as President of Global Customs. In his new role, Treviño Chapa will lead the build-out of Altana’s public-private trusted trading network with governments and customs authorities around the world. Customs authorities are under converging pressures to modernize their operations, adopt new technologies like AI, enforce compliance in e-commerce and low-value shipment flows, and, most notably, overhaul their border processes in order to map and manage the extended supply chain networks of the goods entering and leaving their borders. Treviño Chapa’s deep experience supporting institutional modernization and international cooperation will directly strengthen Altana’s role in helping customs administrations employ AI, manage e-commerce flows, and access supply chain traceability for the goods crossing their borders.
Treviño Chapa brings more than 25 years of experience at the intersection of international trade, border management, technology, data and public policy. From 2018 to October 2026, he served as Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, following his election by the Organization's Members in 2017 and re-election to a second term in 2022. As a member of the WCO's executive management team, he helped lead the Organization's strategic transformation and modernization agenda — placing technology, data and innovation at the center of its priorities, strengthening its foresight capabilities, and establishing the WCO Performance Measurement Mechanism and a renewed Capacity Building Paradigm for customs administrations around the world.
Prior to the WCO, Treviño Chapa was appointed General Administrator of Customs of Mexico in 2015 by the President of Mexico, with ratification by the Mexican Senate. He led the modernization and digitalization of Mexico's customs operations, expanded the use of data analytics in customs risk management, and strengthened enforcement against illicit and counterfeit trade. Together with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he implemented joint inspection and release programs that significantly reduced border-crossing times and operational costs for importers and exporters. During this period he also served as WCO Vice-Chair for the Americas and Caribbean, coordinating the region's first strategic plan. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles across Mexico's public sector, including at the Tax Administration Service (SAT).
“Ricardo has spent his career at the forefront of how the world’s customs administrations facilitate trade, from digitalizing Mexican Customs to shaping the WCO’s technology and data agenda,” said Evan Smith, CEO and Co-founder of Altana. “We’re thrilled to bring his expertise in-house to Altana, where he will help us accelerate a new future for customs: one where trust and security come from governments, businesses and logistics providers working together on a collaborative network for trade.”
“Customs administrations and businesses are being asked to manage unprecedented complexity, often with fragmented data and limited time to act,” said Treviño Chapa. “Throughout my career in customs and international cooperation, I have seen how better data, stronger visibility and advanced technology can fundamentally improve decision-making at the border and across global value chains. What has often been missing is the ability for the public and private sectors to work from the same trusted picture of trade. Altana is building that shared trusted network, and after more than two decades of public service, I am excited to bring my experience to this next chapter and help customs administrations around the world use technology and intelligence to make trade more secure, efficient and resilient.”
Treviño Chapa joins during a time of accelerating momentum for Altana. Recent 2026 milestones include the acquisition of Cervo to create the world’s first fully agentic customs brokerage solution and recognition on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list.
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About Altana:
Altana is the AI network where businesses, logistics providers, and governments are rearchitecting global trade. Altana powers agentic trade workflows and public-private collaboration across product value chains — the source of truth for where products come from. Businesses like Boston Scientific, BASF, and General Atomics use Altana to prove compliance before goods ship and build more efficient, resilient, and secure supply chains. Eight of the ten largest logistics providers use Altana to automate the full brokerage workflow, and governments including the U.K., U.S., and Australia rely on Altana to promote economic security, manage borders, and enable the flow of trusted trade. To learn more, visit altana.ai
