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Benjamin Butler
Futurist, Philosopher, Keynote Speaker
Professional Background
Benjamin J. Butler is a distinguished futurist and writer renowned for his insightful predictions and thought-provoking ideas regarding the future of civilization. With over twenty years of experience in forecasting, Benjamin has had the unique opportunity to present his prophecies at global platforms such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. Currently residing in the enchanting locale of Tulum, Mexico, he is dedicating his time to penning a book that seeks to unravel the intricacies of future societal developments. His expertise is not only founded on rich academic knowledge and years of diverse international experience but is also guided by a holistic understanding of nature and spirituality, drawing inspiration from his Celtic lineage.
Benjamin holds a prominent position on the Global Future Council for Quantum Applications at the World Economic Forum, which highlights his commitment to addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing our world through innovative technologies. His journey has taken him across various cultures from the mountains of Japan to the oak groves of the British Isles, where he has embraced the teachings of Zen and Taoism, blending ancient wisdom with contemporary futuristic thinking.
Education and Achievements
Benjamin's educational background is as diverse as his professional trajectory. He began with a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese and Economics from the esteemed School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. His pursuit of knowledge continued with a Master's Degree at Schumacher College, an institution known for its emphasis on sustainability and ecological awareness. Further enhancing his academic credentials, Benjamin studied at King's College London, Embley Park, and Osaka University. He also completed a rigorous two-month graduate program at Columbia Business School through Morgan Stanley, illustrating his profound dedication to mastering the fundamentals of finance and investment.
In addition to formal education, Benjamin has been highly active in various organizations, contributing his insights and expertise in multiple capacities. His role as a futurist at Horasis allows him to engage with global leaders and think tanks to shape future strategic discussions. Moreover, Benjamin has served on advisory boards for organizations like the Athena School of Management and the Lifeboat Foundation, where he influenced initiatives focused on sustainability and innovative thinking.
His career also includes a notable tenure as a futurist speaker with Resilience Frontiers at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), illustrating his commitment to global resilience strategies against climate change. Benjamin's previous roles, such as serving as a strategist at Macro Hedge Fund and Family Office, Managing Partner at Mind Fund Ltd, Executive Chairman at Miso Media, and others showcase a robust background in finance and investment which provides a unique lens through which he forecasts future trends.
Achievements
Throughout Benjamin's career, he has achieved numerous notable milestones that underscore his reputation as a leading futurist and thought leader. His ability to bridge the gap between complex scientific concepts, quantum computing, and practical applications in everyday lives place him at the forefront of discussions regarding the future implications of technology. His active participation in the Global Future Council on Quantum Computing at the World Economic Forum not only underscores his prominence in this sphere but also reflects his dedication to fostering a future that harnesses technological advancements for the greater good.
With a deeply rooted belief in the coexistence of modern and traditional wisdom, Benjamin embodies a unique perspective as he explores how ancient teachings can inform futuristic approaches. Drawing from his experiences living in Japan, China, and Korea for over two decades, he has cultivated culturally rich insights that inform his work as a futurist. Benjamin’s diverse experiences and intuitive connection with nature and spirituality highlight his commitment to advocating for a harmonious balance between humanity and the environment in times of rapid technological change.
Well-written opinions and column pieces are also a hallmark of Benjamin’s career, as exemplified by his former work as a columnist at Dow Theory Letters, where he explored financial trends and their implications on society. Additionally, his time as a visiting lecturer on futures at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design reflects his desire to inspire the next generation of thinkers, fostering a culture of innovation and forward-thinking in emerging leaders.
With his multifaceted expertise, Benjamin Butler continues to influence conversations on the future with optimism and a commitment to embracing the balance of technology and ancient wisdom. As he embarks on writing his latest book, his readers can be assured that the insights he shares will be deeply informed by his extensive background in finance, culture, and spirituality—truly a testament to his role as a visionary for future generations.
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Clay is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Clay centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.