What We Don't Know Podcast

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17 Jul 2026 · 1 hr

From Boots the Chemist to Lewis Hamilton's Boardroom - Dr. Hayaatun Sillem & Jimmy McLoughlin OBE

This week, a special crossover episode: Jimmy's Jobs of the Future meets What We Don't Know. Hayaatun Sillem spent eight years as CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering - the first woman, and the first person in over two decades, to hold the role. Before that: 8 years of biochemistry, a walkout from the lab that ended her PhD overnight, and a stint advising Parliament on everything from forensic science to carbon capture. She also co-chaired Lewis Hamilton's commission on the representation of Black people in UK motorsport, and is now a founding trustee of his charity, Mission 44. In this…

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Earlier episodes 16 most recent

1. 

   8 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

   From Leaving Dyson to The Washing Machine Project | Navjot Sawhney

   What Washing Machines Teach Us About Leadership | Navjot Sooni & The Washing Machine Project This time Hayaatun is joined by Navjot Sawhney, founder of The Washing Machine Project, about how engineering and leadership intersect through a mission to reduce the unpaid labor of hand-washing clothes. Nav describes being raised by his mother and sisters after his father died when he was eight, early leadership roles encouraged by his mother, and values of Sikh seva and Jugaad problem-solving. After working at Dyson, he quit to work with Engineers Without Borders in India, where he met Divya,…

2. 

   1 Jul 2026 · 54 min

   Why Coachability Beats Talent (And It Costs Your Promotions) | Nationwide former CEO Joe Garner

   Joe Garner (Ex-CEO Nationwide) on Leading Through Crisis, Values-Driven Culture & Sustainable Performance Hayaatun interviews Joe Garner, former CEO of Nationwide Building Society (and previously at HSBC and Openreach), now an advisor to CEOs across the private and public sectors and the royal household. Garner traces formative experiences from age 11, his early leadership through rowing, and career lessons from P&G’s principle-led culture, a brief command-and-control dotcom stint, and the fast-paced environment at Dixons/Currys. He describes empowerment at HSBC via a signed “blank” £3m…

3. 

   24 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 17 min

   The Tech Industry Forgot That Women Exist | Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon

   Women in tech, AI bias, gender inequality, and the future of work Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon pulls no punches. Child prodigy, STEMettes founder, Countdown arithmetician, and government adviser on women in technology. She built STEMettes from £300 to £1.2 million. She watched the internet lose its mind over a Black woman doing maths on daytime TV. And she's spent 13 years trying to fix a tech industry that keeps building products that forget half the world exists. In this episode: why tolerating a brilliant jerk is a leadership failure. What leaders actually mean when they say they "can't find"…

4. 

   17 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

   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…

5. 

   10 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

   Why The Best Leaders Don't Need To Prove Themselves | Hetti Barkworth-Nanton

   Hetti Barkworth-Nanton on Humility, Purpose & Leading Through Trauma | What We Don’t Know (Eden Project) Recorded in the Eden Project Rainforest Dome at the Anthropy conference, Hayaatun speaks with Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, CEO of Ploughshare and chair of Refuge, about leading change across defense innovation and domestic abuse services. Hetti explains how Ploughshare spins Ministry of Defence innovations into civil applications, sharing examples from water-protective coatings used in Samsung phones to laser-detection tech adapted from battlefield needs to air ambulances and sport. She traces…

6. 

   4 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

   Andy Haldane: The Jobs Crisis & How to Rebuild UK Skills | What We Don't Know

   Andy Haldane: Crisis, Opportunity & Rebuilding UK Skills | What We Don’t Know Welcome to What We Don't Know with Matt Brittin & Hayaatun Sillem. This is the show about better leadership in a truly chaotic world. Across the series, episodes are joined a range of other leading figures, bringing different perspectives to each conversation. Subscribe to not miss an episode! ▶️ ⚡️ Powered by Boxlight.io https://www.boxlight.io/ ----------- In this episode, Matt Brittin and Hayaatun Sillem sit down with Andy Haldane to discuss his leadership roles as Chancellor of the University of Sheffield and…

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