Matt Spooner

Keep up with all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes right here on Supply Chain Now as we look back on everything that’s happened this week! On Monday, we released 3 new episodes! On Digital Transformers on Supply Chain Now, hosts Kevin L. Jackson and Scott Luton welcome Dr. Evaristus Mainsah, with IBM, to the show to discuss IBM think #2021, post-pandemic digital transformation, using AI to make your workforce even more effective, and exactly what drives innovation. On This Week in Business History, guest host Kelly Barner, Owner of Buyers Meeting Point and Host of Dial P for Procurement remembers key innovations, inventions, and firsts that took place between June 7th and 13th, including the questionable career of Samuel Slater, the tricky first passing of the Panama Canal, and how the Post Office stopped the shipment of children through their national parcel service. On Supply Chain Now en Spanish, host Enrique Alvarez interviews Sofia Rivas Herrera learning about her journey from curious child to industrial engineer to supply chain leader and much more. On Tuesday, we released 2 new episodes! On our Logistics with Purpose series, produced in partnership with Vector Global Logistics, as Pat Plonski, Executive Director of…

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…