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Dennis Bly
IBM Offering Manager for Academic Developers and Leader of Call for Code Global Challenge University Edition
Professional Background
Dennis Bly has carved a niche for himself as a visionary leader in the integration of emerging technology skills in education. With a career spanning over two decades at IBM, Dennis has taken on multiple roles that emphasize his commitment to fostering collaborative environments between academia and industry. Most notably, he has inspired a new generation of student developers to harness cloud technology in tackling global challenges, such as natural disaster resiliency and climate change.
In his capacity as the Global Offering Manager for Academic Developers, Dennis has worked closely with leading academic institutions and non-profit organizations to bridge the growing skill gap in emerging technologies. His previous roles include serving as the IBM Academic Initiative Leader for North America, where he built alliances with university faculty to ensure that curricula reflect the ever-evolving demands of the tech industry. Dennis's work has established innovative pathways in learning, equipping graduates with the skills needed to make a significant impact in their respective fields.
Dennis joined IBM in 1996 and has held a variety of leadership positions across the organization. One of his key roles was managing the Austin IBM Innovation Center, where he was instrumental in driving ecosystem development through collaborations with IBM Business Partners, tech startups, venture capitalists, and educational institutions. His focus on program and people management has contributed to a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within IBM and the broader tech community.
Education and Achievements
Dennis Bly is a proud alumnus of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he earned a BA in Business Administration and Government. His academic background laid the groundwork for his successful career in technology and business development. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Dennis remains actively engaged with his alma mater as a member of several university academic advisory boards.
His dedication to the university community is further highlighted by his previous role as the President of the Augustana University Alumni Association and his election to the Board of Trustees in 2019. Through these responsibilities, he continually advocates for academic excellence and innovation in education.
Throughout his career, Dennis has demonstrated a consistent commitment to advancing educational opportunities and fostering inclusivity in tech. By integrating diverse perspectives from academia and industry, he aims to create a future-ready workforce that is equipped to tackle pressing global issues. Whether it’s developing new degree programs that meet the needs of employers or cultivating an agile learning environment in schools, Dennis's influence is transforming how education intersects with technology.
Achievements
Dennis Bly has been a key player in reshaping how emerging technology is perceived and integrated within educational frameworks. His efforts have significantly influenced curriculum development, resulting in more relevant educational programs that prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow.
Some of the notable achievements during his tenure at IBM include:
- Driving collaboration: Establishing partnerships with leading universities, which has led to innovative educational programs and research initiatives.
- Curriculum modernization: Advocating for up-to-date curricula that equip students with contemporary cloud-based developer skills.
- Student empowerment: Inspiring student developers to apply their skills to real-world problems, fostering a generation of leaders prepared to address global challenges.
Dennis's work embodies a vision of education that transcends traditional boundaries, championing a model that integrates technology seamlessly into the learning experience. His deep commitment to collaboration and innovation ensures that the next generation of graduates is not only adept in their fields but also conscious of their role in addressing the world’s most pressing issues.
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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:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.