About Good Tech Collective

Good Tech Collective was started by Iris van de Kieft.

I've spent over a decade in tech: building products, leading teams, working with AI. I love this industry. And I think we can do better.

I also have degrees in AI and cognitive neuropsychology, and I trained as a yoga teacher and digital wellbeing coach. For a long time, I kept these parts of my life separate. The tech side here, the embodied and reflective side there. This project is me bringing them together.

Over the years, I started seeing more of the downsides of tech. We were all excited about things like growth hacking and engagement, and only now we see that we were building addictive behaviour we don't actually want. It's not that we lack ethics guidelines or well-intentioned founders. We have plenty. The problem is that knowing what's right and doing what's right are very different things, especially when the pressure hits.

I think three things need to change.

How we build technology. Responsible practices exist, but we need to close the gap between principles and practice.

The structures we build within. Ownership models, incentive design, governance: these shape decisions more than any mission statement. When the structure rewards short-term extraction, good intentions lose.

How we lead. Not just decisions under pressure, but how connected leaders are to the impact of what they build. I think there's a real, practical, evidence-based case for developing the kind of inner capacity that helps leaders hold their ground. Turn inward to move forward.

These three areas are usually separate conversations happening in separate rooms. I think they're the same conversation. They relate to each other, they reinforce each other, and the real leverage is where they connect.

Good Tech Collective is my attempt to bring them together. It's a collective, not a consultancy. I don't have all the answers, especially on the ownership and structures side, where I'm learning as much as anyone. But I believe these fields need each other, and I want to find others who see it that way.

This is early. I'm building it in the open, starting with conversations and seeing what emerges. If any of this resonates, whether you work in one of these areas or you've just been sitting at an intersection that doesn't have a name yet, I'd love to hear from you.

If that's you: subscribe, reach out, or just follow along.