“At a certain point, the world of pure ideas won’t be enough anymore — you’ll want to make a tangible impact in the real world.”
With this realisation, Manuel Gustavo Isaac began a bold journey: leaving a successful academic career to step into the world of think tanks, guided by the School for Thinktankers and the wider On Think Tanks community.
Before joining the School for Thinktankers in 2019, Manuel Gustavo had dedicated his life to academic research. After completing three master’s degrees and a PhD in Philosophy in 2015, he found himself questioning the limits of academic influence: “In academia, we talk a lot about ideas, but very few people try to break the Ivory Tower’s wall and connect with real problems. I wanted for philosophy to have some tangible impact on real-world issues.”
This question marked the beginning of his transition. Searching for spaces where intellectual rigour met practical relevance, he conducted informational interviews with professionals across different sectors, including think tanks. “When I spoke to people in think tanks, something clicked immediately. They understood the relevance of philosophical thinking for their daily work. There was a similar mindset, the ability to see the bigger pattern behind complex issues. I felt there was a natural alignment.”
Like many academics considering a transition, Manuel Gustavo found little guidance within his own field: “In academia, no one tells you how to move to the non-academic sector. The more senior you become, the harder it is. The School for Thinktankers was the first space that helped me understand how I could align my skills to what the sector actually needs, even if those needs are not always explicitly stated.”
The School was his first real step into the think tank ecosystem and it came with a meaningful cultural shift. “Even though academia has conferences and workshops, it’s not the same. At the School, there was a truly co-productive mindset, brainstorming together, approaching problems collectively. I didn’t know we could work that way. It was a hopeful discovery.”
During his participation at the School for Think Tankers, some sessions left a lasting impression, especially those that contrasted academic pace with the fast, delivery-oriented culture of think tanks. “At the branding session, we had to deliver a full process in one afternoon. In academia, this would have taken six months. It taught me that you can accelerate and still remain rigorous you just have to shift your mindset.”
This experience marked more than a training moment. It became a turning point. “That was the moment I tested that there was something here, something more relevant I could do. That’s when I said: let’s do the transition.”
Shortly after the School, Manuel Gustavo joined the OTT Fellowship Programme and began participating in the online sessions of the OTT Conference during the pandemic. During one keynote, delivered by Anne-Marie Slaughter, he heard a sentence that became his guiding principle: “At a certain point, the world of pure ideas won’t be enough anymore — I want to have a tangible impact in the real world.” “That became my motto. It made total sense in my own journey. I knew that was the direction I wanted to take, no matter how long it would take or how challenging it would be.”
Manuel Gustavo continued working in academia while trying to build collaborative projects with think tanks, but quickly realised that traditional academic structures and funding schemes were not ready for this direction. In 2022, he made a decisive move and left academia entirely.
Today, after years of resilience and conviction, he works in a role he helped to shape, an embedded “science anticipation philosopher” within a think tank. “It took three years after leaving academia. We basically created a position that didn’t exist before. To me, it’s a dream come true, and now the challenge is to deliver on that dream and make the impact I am called to make.”
Manuel Gustavo believes the think tank sector can greatly benefit from academic talent, if the bridge is made visible: “There is so much loss of talent from academia, brilliant people who don’t know where to go. Many don’t know about think tanks or how their skills could translate. But their analytical depth and problem-solving capabilities are exactly what think tanks need, alongside other skills.”
For him, the School for Thinktankers is not just a training, it is a catalyst.
“OTT gave me the acknowledgment and language to bridge my skills. It validated that what I had to offer was relevant. I am eternally grateful.”
And he left us a message to those standing at the edge of transition: “It is not easy, especially if you are transitioning. People will tell you it won’t work — that your dream position doesn’t exist. But it can work with resilience, conviction, and trust in the process. If you feel that this is your path — go for it.”
Manuel Gustavo’s story is a reminder that ideas matter, but courage is what turns them into impact. For those standing at the edge between reflection and action, the School for Thinktankers can be the bridge.