The Progressive Tech Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to reshaping how technology is built, governed, and experienced — putting human flourishing at the center of every standard we set.
For the past three decades, the dominant model of technology has been extraction: attention harvested, behavior manipulated, data monetized. The technology industry has grown enormously wealthy by treating people as the product. We think it can be different.
PTI is a new organization. Rather than spread thin across every problem in tech, we're going deep on one area where we have the expertise, the relationships, and the urgency to make a real difference.
Healthcare is where the consequences of getting AI wrong are measured in lives and dollars. AI is already being used to automate care denials, optimize billing codes through ambient listening, and inflate insurance risk scores — all with minimal transparency and no meaningful patient consent. We're developing the policy frameworks legislators need: mandatory human review, ambient listening disclosure requirements, AI-only denial prohibitions, and interoperability mandates with real enforcement.
Read our policy framework →These are areas we intend to work in as PTI grows. We're not actively engaged in them yet — but we're building toward each one.
Brain-computer interfaces like Neuralink introduce a category of data more intimate than anything previously collected: the electrical signals of your thoughts. Who owns what your brain generates? Can it be sold, subpoenaed, or used by an employer? There are no meaningful consumer protections for neural data today, and the devices are already in people's heads.
Standards against dark patterns, manipulative defaults, and deceptive UX — interfaces designed to serve users' actual goals, not engagement metrics.
Shifting the model from "data as shareholder asset" to "data as user property" — so the people generating value from data are the ones who benefit from it.
Policy frameworks that limit algorithmic manipulation, compulsive design, and the deliberate engineering of psychological dependency for profit.
Transparency and independent audit requirements for automated systems that make decisions about employment, credit, housing, and opportunity.
Strong privacy as a default for all users — not a premium tier, not buried in a 40-page terms agreement.
Design principles that measure success by user wellbeing — mental health, relationships, presence — rather than time-on-platform.
Mandatory data portability and open protocols so users can move between services without losing their digital lives.
Resources and protection for engineers and designers who want to advocate for humane practices from inside their organizations.
Changing how technology works requires changing what the industry considers acceptable. That means working on multiple fronts simultaneously.
These principles guide everything we do. They are not aspirations — they are commitments.
Reshaping the technology industry is not a spectator sport. Whether you're a researcher, a tech worker, a policymaker, or someone who just wants to be part of the solution — there's a role for you here.