Interim executive. I bring companies back in order, then hand over.
Companies call me when they are in a difficult spot. As a freelance interim executive I clean house at every level, from strategy and shareholders to operations and IT, through restructuring, innovation or simply structure. I hand over after one year, two at most. I think conceptually and implement hands-on. And I write about what disruptive technology does to the human being.
Not whether AI is impressive. It is.
Not whether abundance is coming. It is.
The real question is what happens to agency, consciousness, sovereignty, and meaning when intelligence and execution become cheap.
My work explores the human measure of technology: how we build systems that make people stronger, not weaker; more awake, not more automated; more capable of conscious action, not less.
Thinking meets doing
Most thinkers stay with reflection. Most doers do not have time to think. I refuse to choose.
I am AI-native: I know most AI tools and use them daily. Last year I built the full front and back end of the AI4 Accountancy platform with a small team, entirely with AI, and moved the whole company onto AI agents. As the initiator of De Vibecoders, I experiment with cutting-edge tools to build software without traditional programming, to experience what it means.
That experience feeds my thinking. That thinking guides my action.
My path
I grew up in my parents’ photo shop and became fascinated by technology early. I programmed on a ZX Spectrum, founded a computer club, and bought an Apple Classic during my studies to experiment with internet protocols before almost anyone around me knew what email was.
Since then, I have experienced digital innovation from the inside: building websites, leading a SaaS startup, working on digital projects at KLM, Booking.com, and MisterGreen, and following the Tesla revolution up close.
Every wave taught me the same lesson: technology only creates value if it expands human agency.
Track record
- Retailisation and Pure Value Europe: as interim COO to break-even within six months.
- Tellow: from a Rabobank project to a standalone scale-up, with Series A, PSD2 license and exit.
- MisterGreen: strategy for 3,000 electric lease vehicles and a fully online lease process.
- Booking.com, ING, KLM and Goldratt Consulting: apps, search, portfolios and Theory of Constraints.
What I write about
- AI as a new literacy
- disruptive technology and abundance
- discernment, taste, and perception in an age of cheap output
- the risk of obedient AI
- consciousness, sovereignty, and human agency
- operating systems for a more awake technological civilization
The recurring question is simple:
Does this technology help humans become more conscious, capable, and free?
Start here
If you are new to my work, begin with Start Here: The Human Measure of Technology.
Contact
Get in touch: hello@roelsmelt.com · @roelsmelt on X