Altana
Altana Leadership & Management
Frequently Asked Questions
Altana was founded by Evan Smith, whose vision — and whose belief that globalization can be fixed, not abandoned — is the organizing principle around which everything else is built. Under his leadership, Altana has grown from an idea to the operating infrastructure for trusted global trade, used daily by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, five of the world's ten largest logistics providers, and enterprises managing hundreds of millions of buyer-supplier connections.
Leadership at Altana operates with transparency and directness. We expect managers to give real feedback, hold high standards, and actively support the development of their teams. People managers are held to the same core values as everyone else — trust, stewardship, courage — and that means being honest even when it's uncomfortable, recognizing excellent work, and clearing the path for people to do their best.
For those interested in Altana's broader strategic vision, we'd point you to Evan's keynote at TradeNext 2026, where he laid out what Altana's role is in building the next era of global trade.
Altana Employee Perspectives
But I want to ask the Decoder questions in a bit of a lightning round so we can get there quickly. Last time we spoke, you had about 240 people. I’m assuming you’re growing. How big is Altana now and how are you structured?
I think we’re actually benefiting from some of the AI we’re purveying. So, the company’s just under 300 people. We might have just broken 300 with this acquisition. How are we structured? We are trying to run more of the company through an extended leadership team these days. So, we’re covering an enormous amount of ground. I think we work with nine governments around the world. We have three product lines that serve different government users. We have this logistics vertical. We work with enterprises the world over and their suppliers. It’s incredibly broad and it’s incredibly complex.
The point of saying all that is because within a 300 person company, the communication and coordination challenges are just massive. One of the things I’m trying to solve is how to get more of the leaders in the company seeing the whole playing field, having the same debates, and synthesizing the information at whole company level and not just their function.
What People Are Saying About Altana
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Strategic Vision & Planning: Leadership frames Altana as "the network for trusted trade" with a long-term "Globalization 2.0" mission, consistently tying the AI-powered Product Network and Product Passports to that goal. Public materials and partnerships present a coherent strategy that links mission, product thesis, and target markets across public and private sectors.
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Open & Transparent Communication: Executives repeatedly communicate the same mission, positioning, and product roadmap across the About page, funding communications, product docs, and CEO talks. Analyst and media coverage echo the networked, AI-driven thesis, reinforcing message clarity for external audiences.
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Strong Execution: Government-grade trust moves such as FedRAMP High authorization and participation in the U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium align with the stated focus on sensitive, regulated use cases. Reported DHS/CBP deployments and selection of Product Passports indicate the strategy is being operationalized in high-stakes environments.
Altana's Benefits
Engineering team utilizes pair programming
Hosts in-person all-hands meetings
Twice annually, we bring everyone together to
Hosts in-person revenue kickoff meetings
Implements team-based strategic planning
Open office floor plan to encourage communication and collaboration
Utilizes an open door policy that encourages accessibility
