TradeNext 2026 | The Altana Summit
TradeNext convened policymakers, industry leaders, and trade experts in Washington for a day of conversations on the future of global commerce. From keynotes to salon sessions, here's what unfolded at the biggest day in gobal trade.
Opening Keynote
Altana CEO Evan Smith opened TradeNext with a vision for trusted trade — a new architecture for global commerce in which AI-powered Product Passports reconcile national security with economic growth. The traditional global trade model, he argued, is collapsing under the weight of geopolitical tension and new enforcement realities like the UFLPA. What replaces it has to be technology-enabled, network-driven, and built on shared visibility between governments, primes, and suppliers.
Keynote Conversation
Patrick McGee, Financial Times contributor and author of the New York Times bestseller “Apple in China,” joined Evan Smith for a wide-ranging conversation about what Apple's China story means for the rest of us — for policymakers trying to reduce adversarial exposure, for enterprises trying to understand their own supply chain risks, and for anyone asking what resilience actually costs.
Panel
Edward Fishman (Council on Foreign Relations, author of “Chokepoints”) moderated a panel on fortifying the U.S. industrial base with Molly Just-Behr (Databricks), Michael Robbins (AUVSI), and Charles McVicker (General Atomics Aeronautical Systems). The conversation focused on what real-time supply chain visibility means for defense acquisition — from heat maps to decisions, from quarterly reporting to operating tempo, and how primes, agencies, and suppliers can share signal in time to act on it.
Featured Research
Released the morning of TradeNext and featured in Bloomberg, Altana's USMCA Future of Trade Forum report draws on multi-tier value chain visibility and a survey of leading trade experts to answer: what should the upcoming joint review actually fix?
Presented from the TradeNext stage by Altana leaders alongside an interactive discussion of the findings.
Speaker Spotlight
On the TradeNext stage, Altana and Maersk announced a first-of-kind partnership to build a global digital trade network — embedding AI-powered Product Passports into Maersk’s Gemini Cooperation, which moves roughly 70% of world trade through 12 key international ports. Pre-validated, product-level compliance lets verified shipments move faster while giving customs authorities the visibility they need.
“A global Product Passport for Goods is the innovation needed to elevate international trade towards an ecosystem of trust — connecting and transforming major trade routes into digital trade corridors.”
Speaker Spotlight
Philippe Duponteil, Director for Customs Duties and Digital Transformation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD), joined fellow international trade leaders — including Ricardo Treviño Chapa, Deputy Secretary General of the World Customs Organization — to share perspectives on the future of international trade policy and regulations.
“The ultimate objective for us is getting goods cleared before they are even shipped.”
Speaker Spotlight
Molly Just-Behr, Global Head of Public Sector at Databricks, on the panel alongside Michael Robbins (AUVSI) and Charles McVicker (General Atomics), moderated by Edward Fishman (CFR).
“The half-life of useful information is measured in hours, not weeks. Stitching tens of thousands of supplier relationships into a single picture is exactly what Altana and Databricks were built for — and exactly what the industrial base needs.”
From the stage
"From customs modernization to supply chain security, one thing is clear: effective trade policy depends on effective systems. In today's digital age, technology is essential to facilitating efficient trade, identifying risk, enforcing our laws, and protecting American businesses and consumers."
Congressman Adrian Smith,
U.S. House of Representatives (NE-03), Chair, Trade Subcommittee
Congressman Adrian Smith,
U.S. House of Representatives (NE-03), Chair, Trade Subcommittee
“Supply chain intelligence is a real-time data problem, not a quarterly reporting problem. The half-life of useful information is measured in hours, not weeks.”
Molly Just-Behr,
Global Head of Public Sector, Databricks
Molly Just-Behr,
Global Head of Public Sector, Databricks
“I joined Tanya Skilton of General Motors and Evan Smith of Altana at TradeNext for an important discussion on the future of trade facilitation — and the vital role that good data and responsible AI will play in the future of global commerce.”
Matt Tokorcheck,
SVP, Global Trade Services, FedEx
Matt Tokorcheck,
SVP, Global Trade Services, FedEx
“I see the future of global trade. It’s Product Passports on Altana’s network for trusted trade.”
Lars Karlsson,
Global Head of Trade and Customs Consulting, A.P. Møller-Maersk
Lars Karlsson,
Global Head of Trade and Customs Consulting, A.P. Møller-Maersk
“There is no board that I touch where issue number one isn’t geopolitics. Issue number two is AI. And issue number three is what geopolitics and AI means for the supply chain.”
Michael Capellas,
Chairman, Altana; Former CEO of Compaq & President, HP
Michael Capellas,
Chairman, Altana; Former CEO of Compaq & President, HP
“70% of world trade moves through the 12 ports in Altana and Maersk’s digital trade network. By the end of 2027, our autonomous passport manager will directly connect importers and logistics providers to customs authorities around the world.”
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
“The problem in trade today is the massive volume of information that customs collects, and how to make sense of it. Only AI makes this possible.”
Ricardo Treviño Chapa,
Deputy Secretary General, World Customs Organization
Ricardo Treviño Chapa,
Deputy Secretary General, World Customs Organization
“Network challenges demand network solutions. Global trade needs a trusted network.”
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
“Full product value chain traceability is 100% the future of trade enforcement and facilitation.”
Philippe Duponteil,
Director, Customs Duties & Digital Transformation, European Commission
Philippe Duponteil,
Director, Customs Duties & Digital Transformation, European Commission
“If you’re in supply chain and you’re not excited today about what AI can do, you might think about an alternate career.”
Michael Capellas,
Chairman, Altana; Former CEO of Compaq & President, HP
Michael Capellas,
Chairman, Altana; Former CEO of Compaq & President, HP
“The era of broken trade ends today, and the era of trusted networks begins.”
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
“We aren’t going to have to out-China China. That’s not going to work. We need a uniquely American approach that takes advantage of our private sector, our innovation ecosystem, supercharged with government capital.”
Edward Fishman,
Council on Foreign Relations; Author of “Chokepoints”
Edward Fishman,
Council on Foreign Relations; Author of “Chokepoints”
“Vibrant cross-border commerce can coexist with economic security, with national security, and with environmental protection. We can have it all.”
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
“If you aren’t using AI for your trade and supply chain operations in your organization today — and getting real results — you’re behind.”
Michael Capellas,
Chairman, Altana; Former CEO of Compaq & President, HP
Michael Capellas,
Chairman, Altana; Former CEO of Compaq & President, HP
“We’ve been talking for some time to have trust, to earn trust, to build trust. Cooperative engagement of the private sector with customs administrations is the enabler that lets us build this trust we need.”
Ricardo Treviño Chapa,
Deputy Secretary General, World Customs Organization
Ricardo Treviño Chapa,
Deputy Secretary General, World Customs Organization
“We’re proving that continuous compliance can work for small drones. If we can do it for small drones, we can do it for larger drones, maritime vessels, robots — for everything in the defense industrial base.”
Michael Robbins,
President & CEO, AUVSI
Michael Robbins,
President & CEO, AUVSI
“Teams working with us are improving their productivity by more than eight times. Forensic Altana AI reviews slash thousands of hours of work down to minutes.”
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
“Supply chain intelligence needs to be predicated on real-time data that is interoperable and consolidated across thousands of different suppliers and agencies.”
Molly Just-Behr,
Global Head of Public Sector, Databricks
Molly Just-Behr,
Global Head of Public Sector, Databricks
“Global Entry for travelers is enabling seamless clearance at the airport. Altana Product Passports are like Global Entry, but for goods.”
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
Evan Smith,
CEO & Co-Founder, Altana
“The ultimate objective for us is getting goods cleared before they are even shipped.”
Philippe Duponteil,
Director, Customs Duties & Digital Transformation, European Commission
Philippe Duponteil,
Director, Customs Duties & Digital Transformation, European Commission