What David Miliband & The Nudge Unit Taught Me About Leadership | Ravi Gurumurthy, Nesta CEO

Ravi Gurumurthy on Leading Nesta: Missions, Policy, Experimentation, and Intrinsic Motivation

Welcome to What We Don't Know.

The show about better leadership in a truly chaotic world.

Today, Hayaatun is joined by Jimmy McLoughlin OBE, host of ‪@jimmysjobs‬, to chat with Ravi Gurumurthy, CEO of Nesta, about leading mission-driven innovation in an uncertain world.

Ravi explains Nesta’s three “moonshot” missions - halving obesity, achieving net zero homes, and closing the school-readiness gap for children on free school meals, and shaping policy from practical learning.

Ravi also reflects on his background in Burnley, early rebellious leadership, experiences of racism, and a rapid rise in the civil service, including work on Every Child Matters, the Children Act 2004, and the Climate Change Act.

We also cover policymaking’s short-termism, better use of data and trials, how AI and synthetic data could help, learning from failure through “crash testing,” the importance of dosage and numbers, and why leaders should focus on intrinsic motivation over incentives.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:52 Meet Ravi and Nesta

06:46 CEO Role and Missions

09:17 Family Roots and Oxford