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DHL TradeConnect Summit 2026

Turning Customs Management into your Supply Chain Advantage

Shaping the Future of Customs Management

Join us in Chicago for an executive‑level discussion on how customs management has become a decisive factor in supply‑chain performance. The DHL TradeConnect Summit brings together senior leaders to exchange perspectives, explore real‑world use cases, and experience how DHL TradeConnect helps transform customs from a compliance burden into a measurable business advantage.

What Are the Benefits for You?

  • Connect with peer leaders across supply chain, trade, and operations:
    Engage with senior executives facing similar challenges around speed, scalability, and reliability in an increasingly complex U.S. and global trade environment. 
  • Understand what’s changing in U.S. and global customs environments:
    Gain insights into regulatory shifts, enforcement trends, and digital advances shaping customs management today and what this means for supply chain executives.
  • Explore how customs management directly impacts supply chain performance:
    Examine where delays, inconsistencies, and data gaps erode performance and how a more holistic approach can create consistency, speed, and control. 
  • Experience how DHL TradeConnect enables smarter customs management:
    See how the digital solution supports data driven decision making, proactive risk management, and performance monitoring without necessarily requiring deep customs expertise. 

Event Outline

HoursTopics
08:00-09:00Registration & breakfast
09:00-09:15Welcome & Opening Remarks
09:15-10:00Outlook on the U.S. Trade Environment
10:00-10:30Coffee break
10:30-11:00DHL TradeConnect Solution Update
11:00-12:00Interactive Breakout Sessions (Session 1)
12:00-13:15Networking Lunch & Demos
13:15-14:00Fireside Chat
14:00-15:00Interactive Breakout Sessions (Session 2)
15:00-15:30Coffee break
15:30-16:15Panel discussion: How Executives Turn Customs Management into Performance Results
16:15-16:45From Data to Decisions: How Leading Organizations Are Building Resilient Trade Strategies in an Era of Constant Change
16:45-17:00Closing remarks
17:00-18:00Networking cocktails

Speakers

Senior Leaders and Experts in Customs and Supply Chain

Greg Nichols

Greg Nichols - SVP Customs Solutions, DHL Global Forwarding

Greg is a global logistics and customs executive leading DHL’s Customs Solutions business, with a focus on advancing data‑driven trade management and helping multinational companies optimize cross‑border supply chain performance. 

Pete Mento

Pete Mento - Director Global Trade Advisory, Baker Tilly

Pete is a global trade and customs advisor specializing in international trade policy, tariffs, customs valuation, and supply chain strategy. Pete serves as a senior advisor at Baker Tilly and is a Board Member and the Customs Chair the International Trade Council.

Pete Flores

Pete Flores - (retired) Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Pete Flores is the former Acting Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where he led the daily operations of the United States’ largest federal law enforcement agency, overseeing more than 67,000 employees and a $19.6 billion budget across trade, travel, and national security. With nearly four decades of customs and border leadership experience, Pete is widely recognized for advancing secure and efficient cross-border trade, operational excellence, and public-private collaboration that strengthens both economic prosperity and supply chain resilience.

Chris Siepmann

Chris Siepmann - Executive Director of the Office of Trade Relations (OTR), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

In this role, he serves as the primary liaison between CBP and the international trade community. He also leads the staff and operations of OTR and is a senior advisor to CBP’s leadership on trade policy matters.

Maria Kabbani

Maria Kabbani, PhD, MBA, C.C.S. - Head of Foreign Trade, North America

Maria Kabbani is a global trade compliance leader with more than 15 years of experience helping multinational organizations navigate complex customs and regulatory environments. She has led major customs compliance programs, including a multi-year U.S. Customs & Border Protection Focused Assessment and the achievement of Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) certification, while delivering significant duty recovery and risk management outcomes. Maria combines deep customs expertise with a strategic business perspective to drive compliance, operational excellence, and supply chain performance.

Ken Bradshaw

Ken Bradshaw - Director, Global Logistics at Motorola Solution

Ken Bradshaw is Director of Global Logistics at Motorola Solutions, where he leads global logistics and transportation operations across a complex international supply chain. With extensive experience in logistics strategy, trade operations, and supply chain optimization, Ken focuses on driving operational excellence, resilience, and efficiency across global distribution networks.

Evan Pressman

Evan Pressman - Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Ergo

Evan leads the Flashpoints Forum, a geopolitical and economic forecasting community advising senior business and government leaders on global risks and disruptions. He previously helped build the geopolitical risk division at Gerson Lehrman Group and worked as a journalist at CNN covering the September 11 attacks. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the NationSwell Council, and a Truman National Security Fellow.

Daniel Oestericher

Daniel Oestericher - Director, US Policy Forecasting & Analysis, Ergo

Daniel is a Director on the Flashpoints Forum team, leading forecasting initiatives. His work centres on trade, tax, industrial policy, and economic statecraft. Previously he worked for the US State Department in Istanbul, the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv, and The Reckoning Project in Madrid, focusing on transnational legal issues and conflict documentation.

Turn complexity into control, and control into advantage

In an environment defined by volatility and increasing regulation, the organizations that win will be those that manage customs proactively, not reactively. 
Join us in Chicago to explore how leading companies are doing exactly that and how DHL TradeConnect enables a more predictable, data-driven, and performance-focused approach to customs. 
Because when customs is part of your strategy, your entire supply chain performs better.