[Monty2026: The Next Big Thing: Private Company Highlights]

Evan Smith (Co-Founder & CEO, Altana) in conversation with Robert Silvers (Partner & Co-Chair, National Security Practice, Ropes & Gray)

Smith and Silvers — former DHS Under Secretary and co-author of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act — discuss how geopolitical fragmentation, from US-China trade restrictions to EU carbon border adjustments, is forcing companies to map multi-tier supply chain networks for the first time, since CFOs can't forecast tariff impacts without knowing their full value chain.

The most striking disclosure: a Chinese logistics middleware called "Loginc," embedded in global port and logistics systems, reportedly gives Beijing visibility into roughly 90% of global trade — part of a broader strategy that includes giving away free border management software to nations under the Belt and Road Initiative. Altana's federated AI architecture, already used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, offers an alternative: mapping global trade connections without centralizing sensitive data, with EU customs authorities reportedly calling it "light years ahead" of alternatives.