Roel Smelt
Exploring what technology does to us — and then trying it out.

Latest

18
Jun
The Learning Loop Is the New Firm

The Learning Loop Is the New Firm

Access to AI will become universal. The advantage will belong to firms whose people make their AI smarter every week — and whose AI makes their people sharper every day.
4 min read
17
Jun
Bring Back Draghi

Bring Back Draghi

Europe does not need less morality. It needs more market truth behind morality. Draghi gives the plan; builders create the bargaining chips.
9 min read
16
Jun
The Abundance We Forgot How to Feel

The Abundance We Forgot How to Feel

Europe has become very good at explaining why it is doomed. But a continent living inside historic abundance needs more than critique. It needs gratitude as courage.
8 min read
15
Jun
No Leverage, No Sovereignty

No Leverage, No Sovereignty

Europe keeps trying to regulate the future without building enough leverage to negotiate with it. No leverage, no sovereignty.
8 min read
14
Jun
Truth Is Not a Thought

Truth Is Not a Thought

Why humans, markets, institutions and AI must stay grounded in reality — not in the stories the mind tells about it.
8 min read
13
Jun
Europe Regulates the Gate While Others Build the Next Door

Europe Regulates the Gate While Others Build the Next Door

The real competitor to a gatekeeper is not a bureaucratic choice screen. It is technological disruption.
7 min read
12
Jun
My Memory Is Not a Market Access Problem

My Memory Is Not a Market Access Problem

The DMA treats Siri AI as another gatekeeper feature. But an AI agent is not a search box, an app store, or a payment rail. It is the doorway to personal agency.
6 min read
11
Jun
The Country That Treated Electricity as Paperwork

The Country That Treated Electricity as Paperwork

The Netherlands is not running out of technical solutions. It is running out of institutional seriousness.
7 min read
10
Jun
Europe Is Blocking the Privacy-First AI It Claims to Want

Europe Is Blocking the Privacy-First AI It Claims to Want

Europe says it wants privacy, sovereignty and innovation. Then it blocks the one major consumer AI architecture most aligned with those values.
8 min read
10
Jun
Will Apple Move Fast Enough to Make the Interface the Institution?

Will Apple Move Fast Enough to Make the Interface the Institution?

After Apple’s keynote, the real question is not whether Apple can make Siri better. It is whether Apple is bold enough to turn the iPhone into the trusted personal AI interface.
9 min read