John Holly

Special Guest Blog Post written by Dr. Johannes Hangl with e2open   AI is no longer an experiment in global trade compliance. It’s already being applied in product classification, document-to-declaration workflows, risk targeting, and sanctions screening. At the same time, regulators and customs authorities are adopting AI themselves. This is raising expectations for data quality, transparency, and governance across the entire trade ecosystem. With the EU AI Act set to apply from August 2026, companies that have not yet implemented human-in-the-loop controls, drift monitoring, and defensible audit trails are running out of time to close the gap.   Where AI is already adding real value today: HS and ECN classification   Product classification has become one of the most practical AI use cases. Modern tools can now suggest harmonized system (HS/ HTS) and export control (ECCN) codes, explain the rationale, and attach confidence scores and audit metadata to each decision. This direction mirrors what customs authorities are doing. Administrations such as German Customs have discussed using machine learning to improve targeting and risk detection. It appears both sides of the border are moving toward data-driven decision support. AI does not remove accountability. It changes how accountability is exercised.   Practical…

We continued this week on Supply Chain Now with more great interviews, conversations, livestreams, and episodes! Did you miss any episodes? On Saturday, we published an episode of Logistics & Beyond where Jamin interviewed Ryan Schreiber for a great episode on the power of authenticity.     Then on Monday, Scott and Greg welcomed self-proclaimed supply chain enthusiast and ambassador, Sofia Rivas Herrera to the podcast. On Tuesday, we published a recent episode of Supply Chain is Boring, with the Supply Chain Doctor Chris Barnes interviewed Ted Stank.     We published our Supply Chain Buzz on Wednesday, where Scott & Greg discussed the top supply chain news of the week, as well as great tips and information about breaking into and advancing in supply chain.     On Thursday, Scott interviewed Anne Robinson, PhD with Kinaxis for a great conversation on the significance of resiliency versus efficiency in the supply chain, and other corporate leadership topics.     And on Friday, we published the first half of Greg’s interview with Sarah Barnes-Humphrey for TECHquila Sunrise.     Which was your favorite episode this week? Never miss an episode by subscribing to Supply Chain Now! Make sure you tune in…