AI is moving fast in the apparel and textile industry- but not every AI use case is practical, mature, or safe. In this webinar, industry leaders will break down where AI is actually delivering value today across sourcing, trade compliance, and supply chain operations- and where companies should proceed with caution.
Leigh Schmid — Industry & Business Perspective
Perspective: Brand, sourcing, and operational reality
Leigh covers:
- Where apparel and textile companies are actually experimenting with AI
- The business pressures driving adoption (cost, speed, compliance, supplier complexity)
- Where companies are overestimating AI readiness
- What leaders should demand before approving AI initiatives
Think: strategic realism, not technology evangelism
Todd R. Smith — AI + Compliance & Risk Reality
Perspective: Applied AI + regulatory boundaries
Todd covers:
- What AI is good at right now in trade compliance (classification research, discrepancy detection, audit prep)
- Why human‑in‑the‑loop is still essential—especially in apparel & textiles
- Common misconceptions about “fully automated” compliance
- How to think about guardrails (data, outputs, accountability) without slowing innovation
Speakers:
Leigh Schmid - leigh@schmid.com
Perera & Schmid Trade Services
Leigh began his career as a Customs Inspector at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, Ontario, and received formal training on Canadian and International trade law at the Canadian Customs College in Rigaud, Quebec.
Leigh held a variety of positions during his nine years with Revenue Canada - Customs & Excise, including Inspector, Auditor, Investigator (commercial crime), and A/Chief of all Customs ports in Southwestern Ontario.
This experience was invaluable during his years working as a consultant at KPMG where Leigh became the National Partner-In-Charge of the Canadian Trade & Customs Practice and the Chair of KPMG's Trade Practice of the Americas, coordinating the trade and customs practice in KPMG offices throughout the North and South America.
Leigh joined L Brands in 1998 as the Director of Customs Compliance. He was promoted to Vice President of International Trade & Customs in 2002 and became Senior Vice President of Global Trade Compliance in 2007.
His responsibilities expanded to include the following functions:
- Trade and Customs
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Brand Protection
- Regulatory Affairs
- Anti-Corruption (FCPA) Compliance
In 2021, L Brands divested the Victoria's Secret and PINK Brands which became a stand-alone company, Victoria's Secret & Company ("VS&Co"), where Leigh became SVP, Global Trade Compliance. As part of his role, Leigh also held the position of President of Retail Brokerage Solutions, LLC, a nationally licensed customs brokerage in the U.S.A.; and President of Independent Production Services, Inc., a firm that specializes in social compliance audits at factories that include trade compliance, labor standards, supply chain security and Brand Protection. Leigh retired from VS&Co in July 2023.
Leigh served on the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee ("COAC") by appointment of the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Treasury Departments for two terms from 2007 to 2011. This committee advised U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") and Treasury officials on customs matters impacting commercial operations. COAC members elected Leigh to the Trade Chair position during his second term.
Leigh also represented L Brands on the Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG), the official advisory group to the Policy Commission of the World Customs Organization (WCO). Leigh was a founding member of the PSCG serving from 2005 to 2021.
Leigh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree B.A. (Hons.) Summa Cum Laude from McMaster University; a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) from Brock University, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from McMaster University.
Leigh is happily married, the father of three young adults, and has three grandchildren.
Todd. R. Smith CEO Founder- todd@kyg.ai
Todd R. Smith, LCB, is the Founder and CEO of KYG Trade, the Know Your Goods Trade Attestation Platform and Marketplace™. KYG Trade | Know Your Goods was launched in 2021 to solve the problem of a lack of automation to efficiently manage the disparate systems and data sources used by global trade compliance operations. The KYG Trade open and extensible platform provides AI-powered global trade and forced labor compliance, collaboration, workflow, defensible audit trails and recordkeeping, all in one place.
Before forming KYG Trade, Mr. Smith was a partner, and provided trade and customs consulting services to the Fortune 50 at Big 4 Accounting, Tax, and Advisory firms EY and KPMG. There he also was responsible for many implementations of global trade management systems for his clients. Known for his expertise in customs valuation at the Big 4, he has advised and presented several times at the WCO Technical Committee on Customs Valuation in Brussels, Belgium.
Before his 18-year consulting career, Mr. Smith was a co-founder and CEO of a venture-backed start-up acquired on favorable terms by a larger competitor. In spite of his experience working with multinational corporations, Smith has designed KYG Trade as a SaaS (software as a service) platform that is affordable and accessible for small- and medium-sized businesses as well as multinationals.
Smith is an inventor of three patent applications for global trade management systems, including a decentralized authority for trade attribute attestations (e.g., forced labor, sustainability, intellectual property rights, anti-counterfeit, HTS, preferential origin, export controls, tax vs. trade transfer pricing, tax residency, etc.) involving physical and digital goods.
He also recently founded and serves as co-chairman of the OriginBX OASIS Open Project (OriginBX). OriginBX™ is a non-profit, vendor-neutral, open-source product attribute standard and global registry. Current and former observers and sponsors of OriginBX consist of global brands, customs brokers, freight forwarders, trade technology providers, track and trace blockchain platforms, eCommerce platforms, customs authorities, and global trade policy-setting organizations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).