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Grace Lao
General Manager / Chief Procurement Officer at Microsoft
Professional Background
Grace Lao is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in finance, procurement, and operations within the technology sector, particularly at Microsoft. Her journey with Microsoft showcases her evolution from various finance roles to becoming a pivotal player in the organization as the General Manager and Chief Procurement Officer. With a career that spans several leadership positions, Grace has been instrumental in enhancing financial operations and driving strategic initiatives across multiple departments.
Prior to her significant roles at Microsoft, Grace began her career at Ernst & Young, where she honed her skills as an Auditor and Senior Management Consultant. This foundational experience provided her with a solid understanding of financial management and consulting, which she later applied to her work at Microsoft, where she held various finance positions and played a vital role in the company's success.
Her most recent role as the General Manager and Chief Procurement Officer at Microsoft marks a significant achievement in her career, where she leads procurement strategies and manages supplier partnerships effectively, contributing to the overall efficiency and operational excellence of the organization.
Education and Achievements
Grace Lao holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Bishop's University. Her educational background has equipped her with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the complex landscape of business and finance, enabling her to make informed decisions that drive company growth and sustainability.
Over the years, Grace has garnered numerous achievements at Microsoft. She initially served as the Finance Director and Manager for the Server and Tools Division, where she successfully managed financial operations and contributed to strategic planning. Her ascent within the company reflects her dedication and expertise, yielding substantial results for the organization. Grace's role as Sr. Director in the Online Services Division further expanded her leadership capabilities, allowing her to oversee significant projects that enhanced Microsoft's service offerings.
Throughout her tenure at Microsoft, Grace has demonstrated exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, and a commitment to fostering collaboration among teams. Her contributions have not only influenced internal processes but also positively impacted the broader technology landscape, showcasing her ability to drive innovation and operational efficiency.
Achievements
Grace Lao's career at Microsoft is almost a textbook case of professional growth, marked with achievements. As the General Manager and Chief Procurement Officer, she has led transformative procurement strategies that optimize resource allocation and reduce costs while maintaining high standards for quality and service delivery.
A key highlight of Grace’s career is her ability to leverage technology and data-driven decision-making in procurement processes, significantly enhancing Microsoft's operational frameworks. Her initiatives have played a vital role in modernizing procurement practices and fostering sustainable vendor relationships.
Moreover, Grace's leadership during her tenure as General Manager of Global Finance Operations positioned her as a thought leader in financial management within the tech industry. Her insights into operational finance have facilitated significant improvements in Microsoft's financial performance metrics, demonstrating her intrinsic ability to blend financial acumen with strategic innovation.
Outside of her professional environment, Grace is also known for her mentorship roles, dedicating time to guiding emerging professionals in finance and technology. She is passionate about sharing her expertise and helping others navigate their career paths, ensuring the next generation of leaders is well-prepared for the evolving business landscape.
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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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- 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.
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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.
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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'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.