武侠 (Wuxia) culture is big in Alibaba. Everyone has a 花名 (alias / nickname) in the company. In the early days, people just picked names from 金庸 (Jin Yong)'s novels. Jack Ma's 花名 is 风清扬, who is a great sword master in one of the novels. Source: I had a short stint there.

Picking 玄铁, which also comes from Jin Yong's novel, seems rather natural in that context.

Jin Yong's novels are very popular in Chinese speaking countries and regions. Most readers won't associate them with China. I don't think it has anything to do with national pride. Culture pride? I don't see much either.