# Ideas across time Source: https://dinand.com/ Author: Dinand Tinholt > AI consultant, researcher, writer and builder, born in the Netherlands and living in Chicago. From a desk in Chicago # Dinand Tinholt AI Consultant | Researcher | Writer | Builder I spend my days helping companies put AI to work. Most evenings end in a history book, and this site is where the two keep bumping into each other. Explore my work [About me ](https://dinand.com/about/) 01Writing ## [Essays](https://dinand.com/essays/) Longer thinking about AI and the people who have to live with it. History gets pulled in whenever it helps. [Read essays ](https://dinand.com/essays/) ## [Publications](https://dinand.com/publications/) Everything I have published since 2022, sorted by year and theme. [View publications ](https://dinand.com/publications/) ## [Reading Notes](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/) What I took away from the books and papers that changed my mind about something. [Browse notes ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/) 02Research & Experiments ## [Research](https://dinand.com/research/) Simulations I run when I want to know if an idea about AI survives contact with real numbers. [Explore research ](https://dinand.com/research/) ## [Experiments](https://dinand.com/experiments/) Apps and research systems I built. Two of them run right here in your browser. [Explore experiments ](https://dinand.com/experiments/) ## [Side Projects](https://dinand.com/side-projects/) Things I build for the fun of it, like a downtown Chicago you can walk through at any hour. [See side projects ](https://dinand.com/side-projects/) 03Background ## [About](https://dinand.com/about/) Born in the Netherlands, at home in Chicago, with a lifelong habit of asking one more question. [Get to know me ](https://dinand.com/about/) Plate I A cabinet of questions The collection ## Everything I think about, in one place. My work used to scatter. Essays landed on LinkedIn and Medium while the simulations stayed on my laptop. Here they finally sit side by side, and you can see they keep chasing the same handful of questions. > It changes as I learn. Expect drafts. 123: Published articles in the archive 08: Apps and systems I built 07: Sections to explore 01Lead change ### Rethink how the company works You run something, and you want to know where agents fit before they start running it for you. 1. [Begin with Move 37](https://dinand.com/publications/move-37/) 2. [Enter the AI Control Plane](https://dinand.com/experiments/ai-control-plane/) 3. [Price the cost of oversight](https://dinand.com/experiments/monitoring-cost-explorer/) 02Build systems ### Move from idea to instrument You build things, and you like your assumptions out in the open where someone can poke at them. 1. [Design agent memory](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) 2. [Explore SCENARIO-X](https://dinand.com/experiments/scenario-x/) 3. [Create a decision brief](https://dinand.com/experiments/decision-brief-builder/) 03Study evidence ### Interrogate what the numbers mean You want to see how a simulation was set up before you believe a word it says. 1. [Examine accountability](https://dinand.com/publications/skin-in-the-game/) 2. [Map an enterprise ecosystem](https://dinand.com/experiments/agenesis/) 3. [Inspect Assay Bench](https://dinand.com/experiments/assay-bench/) 04Follow ideas ### Take the long way around You came for the detours, the spots where an old map or a forgotten novel has something to say about software. 1. [Stand at a threshold](https://dinand.com/publications/liminality-of-data/) 2. [Open the reading notebook](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/) 3. [Use the past as a compass](https://dinand.com/essays/the-past-as-a-compass/) *Current inquiry · oversight & responsibility* LinkedInSep 9, 2026 AI oversight ### [Skin in the Game Made the AI Supervisor Worse](https://dinand.com/publications/skin-in-the-game/) A controlled experiment on the cost of wrongful blocks and the incentives that shape an AI reviewer. What changes when caution itself becomes costly? [Enter the inquiry ](https://dinand.com/publications/skin-in-the-game/) Plate 02 · Simulated markets LinkedIn · Feb 28, 2026 ### [Building a Fake Economy Run by AI Agents to Negotiate Trade Promotions: Lessons from a CPG Simulation](https://dinand.com/publications/trade-promotion-agents/) Manufacturer and retailer agents negotiate promotions inside a simulated market with competing incentives. [Read the piece ](https://dinand.com/publications/trade-promotion-agents/) Plate 03 · Maps & models Working draft ### [The past as a compass](https://dinand.com/essays/the-past-as-a-compass/) Old maps and new technologies invite us to examine the assumptions behind what we see. [Read the piece ](https://dinand.com/essays/the-past-as-a-compass/) Plate 04 · Agent memory Medium · Dec 17, 2025 ### [How to Make AI Agents Accurate: Stop Treating Memory Like Chat History](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) A practical approach to keeping an agent’s constraints and current decisions clear during long sessions. [Read the piece ](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) Continue through the archive[All research ](https://dinand.com/research/)[All essays ](https://dinand.com/essays/) Year by year One selected work per year 2026Accountability LinkedIn · Sep 9, 2026 ### [Skin in the Game Made the AI Supervisor Worse](https://dinand.com/publications/skin-in-the-game/) A controlled experiment on the cost of wrongful blocks and the incentives that shape an AI reviewer. [Read the overview ](https://dinand.com/publications/skin-in-the-game/) 2025Context Medium · Dec 17, 2025 ### [How to Make AI Agents Accurate: Stop Treating Memory Like Chat History](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) A practical approach to keeping an agent’s constraints and current decisions clear during long sessions. [Read the overview ](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) 2024Complexity LinkedIn · Nov 1, 2024 ### [From Chaos to Managed Complexity: Adopting an Ecosystem Mindset in Data & Analytics](https://dinand.com/publications/from-chaos-to-managed-complexity/) A case for treating modern data environments as evolving ecosystems rather than trying to force every source and decision into one rigid center. [Read the overview ](https://dinand.com/publications/from-chaos-to-managed-complexity/) 2023Liminality LinkedIn · Oct 3, 2023 ### [The Liminality of Data: A Glimpse Between the Thresholds](https://dinand.com/publications/liminality-of-data/) What the idea of liminality can teach data and AI leaders about working between an established order and one that has not yet taken shape. [Read the overview ](https://dinand.com/publications/liminality-of-data/) 2022Culture LinkedIn · Jan 21, 2022 ### [Creating a Data-Powered Culture](https://dinand.com/publications/creating-a-data-powered-culture/) A durable starting point for making data part of everyday decisions: connect technology, shared habits and organizational confidence. [Read the overview ](https://dinand.com/publications/creating-a-data-powered-culture/) In the room Selected public appearances 2025Webinar Technology Magazine · Capgemini + Snowflake ### [Reimagining Revenue Assurance with Agentic AI](https://technologymagazine.com/webinars/reimagining-revenue-assurance-with-agentic-ai) A strategic session on using agentic systems across order-to-cash, deduction management and revenue recovery. [View source ](https://technologymagazine.com/webinars/reimagining-revenue-assurance-with-agentic-ai) Sep 10, 2025Demo session Disney’s Data & Analytics Conference ### [The tools are alive—and working when you’re not looking](https://www.capgemini.com/news/events/disneys-data-and-analytics-conference-2025/) A live session on agents that monitor signals, investigate issues and recommend action across an organization. [View source ](https://www.capgemini.com/news/events/disneys-data-and-analytics-conference-2025/) May 28–29, 2025Fireside chat Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago ### [Practical AI for procurement and supply chain](https://supplychaindigital.com/operations/6-new-speakers-join-procurement-supply-chain-live-chicago) A conversation with Vitold Horodecki about moving agentic AI from abstract promise to measurable procurement and supply-chain practice. [View source ](https://supplychaindigital.com/operations/6-new-speakers-join-procurement-supply-chain-live-chicago) I checked each appearance against the organizer’s public page on September 21, 2026. 01Judgment ### Where should human judgment stay visible once systems begin to act? Start with what happened when an AI reviewer had to answer for its past mistakes. [Follow the question ](https://dinand.com/research/oversight-and-liability/) 02Memory ### How much of yesterday should an agent carry into today’s work? Long sessions drift. This is how I keep an agent anchored. [Follow the question ](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) 03Resilience ### How do we rehearse for disruptions we cannot predict? I threw thousands of random shocks at an inventory planner to find out. [Follow the question ](https://dinand.com/publications/inventory-under-uncertainty/) 04Representation ### What makes a confident image or answer feel true? John Berger asked it about paintings in 1972. It fits chatbots uncomfortably well. [Follow the question ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/ways-of-seeing/) 01 Reading note · 2 min read ### [Ways of Seeing](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/ways-of-seeing/) John Berger on paintings, and why a polished AI answer earns more trust than it should. [Open the note ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/ways-of-seeing/) 02 Reading note · 2 min read ### [The Sorcerer’s Apprentice](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/the-sorcerers-apprentice/) Goethe’s ballad of 1797, and the word for stopping that the apprentice never learned. [Open the note ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/the-sorcerers-apprentice/) 03 Reading note · 2 min read ### [On Machinery](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/on-machinery/) David Ricardo changed his mind about machines in print, in 1821, and left the old opinion standing next to the new one. [Open the note ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/on-machinery/) 04 Reading note · 2 min read ### [The Coal Question](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/the-coal-question/) William Stanley Jevons, 1865, on why a more efficient engine burns more coal. [Open the note ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/the-coal-question/) [Browse every reading note ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/) In conversation with ### AI Agents May Have a Reason to Trust Each Other On a paper led by Alexander Meulemans: why foundation-model agents may cooperate in a one-shot Prisoner’s Dilemma, and what that means for large populations of agents. Published: Medium · Aug 9, 2026 Shelf: Papers, books & thinkers [Read the piece ](https://medium.com/@tinholt/ai-agents-may-have-a-reason-to-trust-each-other-3ba117adc87a)[All reading pieces ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/) From [Publications](https://dinand.com/publications/)Latest published ## Ideas out in the world. [All publications ](https://dinand.com/publications/) LinkedInSep 9, 2026 AI oversight ### [Skin in the Game Made the AI Supervisor Worse](https://dinand.com/publications/skin-in-the-game/) A controlled experiment on the cost of wrongful blocks and the incentives that shape an AI reviewer. [Explore article ](https://dinand.com/publications/skin-in-the-game/) LinkedInFeb 28, 2026 Agents in supply chains ### [Building a Fake Economy Run by AI Agents to Negotiate Trade Promotions: Lessons from a CPG Simulation](https://dinand.com/publications/trade-promotion-agents/) Manufacturer and retailer agents negotiate promotions inside a simulated market with competing incentives. [Explore article ](https://dinand.com/publications/trade-promotion-agents/) MediumDec 17, 2025 Agent engineering ### [How to Make AI Agents Accurate: Stop Treating Memory Like Chat History](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) A practical approach to keeping an agent’s constraints and current decisions clear during long sessions. [Explore article ](https://dinand.com/publications/agent-memory-and-state/) MediumJan 23, 2025 Human–AI collaboration ### [Symbiotic Intelligence Theory (SIT): Rethinking Human Potential in the Age of AI](https://dinand.com/publications/symbiotic-intelligence-theory/) A framework for thinking about human agency and the ways AI can extend our capacity to think together. [Explore article ](https://dinand.com/publications/symbiotic-intelligence-theory/) From [Publications](https://dinand.com/publications/)The ongoing conversation ## From Medium Selected articles. Checking for the latest posts… [Visit Medium ](https://medium.com/@tinholt) MediumJun 15, 2026 Supply-chain resilience ### [Inventory Optimization Under Uncertainty: Broad random shocks trained a tougher inventory planner than a clever AI adversary did](https://medium.com/@tinholt/inventory-optimization-under-uncertainty-broad-random-shocks-trained-a-tougher-inventory-planner-396134e2c5e3) An inventory-planning experiment explores which kinds of stress prepare a policy for unfamiliar disruptions. [Read on Medium ](https://medium.com/@tinholt/inventory-optimization-under-uncertainty-broad-random-shocks-trained-a-tougher-inventory-planner-396134e2c5e3) MediumDec 17, 2025 Agent engineering ### [How to Make AI Agents Accurate: Stop Treating Memory Like Chat History](https://medium.com/@tinholt/how-to-make-ai-agents-accurate-stop-treating-memory-like-chat-history-40eb8e0ea437) A practical approach to keeping an agent’s constraints and current decisions clear during long sessions. [Read on Medium ](https://medium.com/@tinholt/how-to-make-ai-agents-accurate-stop-treating-memory-like-chat-history-40eb8e0ea437) MediumOct 12, 2025 Adaptive systems ### [The Next Frontier of Agentic AI: Context That Learns](https://medium.com/@tinholt/the-next-frontier-of-agentic-ai-context-that-learns-3246d4e73744) How feedback from an agent’s work can inform the context it uses on the next task. [Read on Medium ](https://medium.com/@tinholt/the-next-frontier-of-agentic-ai-context-that-learns-3246d4e73744) While this page is open it looks for new posts every five minutes, as long as Medium’s feed is up. [Subscribe via RSS ↗](https://medium.com/feed/@tinholt) [LinkedIn/in/tinholt*Where most of my articles land first*](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinholt)[Medium@tinholt*The longer essays and the research write-ups*](https://medium.com/@tinholt)[GitHub@dtinholt*Public code goes here when it is ready*](https://github.com/dtinholt)[Threads@tinholt*Quick thoughts that have not become essays yet*](https://www.threads.net/@tinholt)[Instagram@tinholt*Photos from places I have been*](https://www.instagram.com/tinholt/) 41.8781° N 87.6298° W Before you go ## Start with whatever makes you curious. Pick whatever caught your eye on the way down and open it. If nothing did, the surprise button will choose for you. [Read an essay ](https://dinand.com/essays/)[Enter the research ](https://dinand.com/research/)[About Dinand ](https://dinand.com/about/)[Surprise me ](https://dinand.com/reading-notes/) --- Site guide for AI agents: https://dinand.com/llms.txt