trade winds
Trade Winds
Trade Winds is the largest U.S. government-led annual trade mission and business development forum.

Tom Strauss' Bio

Tom Strauss

Tom Strauss is the Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Angola, leading advocacy efforts for U.S companies doing business in that country. Prior to moving to Luanda, Tom served for 17 years as the Southern Regional Director for the U.S. Commercial Service, leading 30 International Trade Specialists to assist U.S. companies to succeed abroad. Preceding that position, he was a National Director in Washington, D.C. overseeing 48 Export Assistance Centers in the Eastern part of the country.

Prior to that he directed the office in Kansas City and was an International Trade Specialist in Tulsa. Tom also worked on temporary duty assignments as Acting Senior Commercial Officer in Hungary, Portugal and Mozambique as well as managing special projects in Mexico City. He started his career working in the international divisions of Sherwood Medical Company and Alco Controls Company in St. Louis.

Tom holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Drury University and a Master of Business Administration, emphasizing International Management and Marketing from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He is certified as a professional coach and successfully completed the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese and French.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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