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Matt Keyes
Commercial Director, EMEA at Craft.co
Professional Background
Matt Keyes stands out as a leader in the fields of supply chain and procurement, dedicating his efforts to harnessing their transformative potential for sustainability, innovation, and profitability. With an enviable record of building strategic relationships and mastering complex negotiations, Matt has made significant contributions to the industry by advocating for solutions that deliver mutual benefits for clients and stakeholders alike. His track record is especially noteworthy, showcasing a remarkable resilience in the face of high-pressure negotiations, including dealing with challenging situations that some would shy away from. This resilience stems from his extensive experience, where he has effectively negotiated with high-stakes parties, demonstrating a unique ability to maintain composure and focus.
In addition to leading initiatives in supply chain management, Matt is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and has successfully closed numerous private investments in early-stage companies. His investment strategies are rooted in a profound understanding of market dynamics and the technological innovations that drive business success today.
Education and Achievements
Matt’s academic journey began at the esteemed Hyderabad Public School in India, where he completed his 12th grade. He furthered his education at the University of Washington, achieving a Master of Arts with Honors in International Studies. This program provided him with invaluable insights into global affairs, trade, and cultural dynamics, equipping him with the knowledge necessary to navigate the complexities of international business environments. Additionally, he earned a Bachelor of Arts cum laude, combining International Studies with Technical Japanese, further underscoring his linguistic capabilities and cultural fluency.
Certifications
Demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning and professional development, Matt holds several prestigious certifications from leading figures in technology and business. His qualifications include accreditation from Faculty.ai, AppDynamics, VMware, Ciena, Cisco, Shoretel, Juniper, AdTran, Nortel/Avaya, Aruba, and Polycom. These certifications not only highlight his expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and networking solutions but also affirm his position as a knowledgeable resource in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
Professional Experience
In his current role as the Commercial Director, EMEA & Global Head of Financial Services Practice at Craft.co, Matt leverages his extensive experience in technology management and consulting to drive growth and efficiency within the organization. His hands-on expertise in data science and application performance monitoring ensures Craft.co remains at the forefront of delivering innovative solutions to its clients.
Before his tenure at Craft.co, Matt played pivotal roles in several organizations, including serving as the Data Science Platform Growth Lead at Faculty. In this capacity, he was responsible for scaling the platform and enhancing its capabilities, which added substantial value to the company. Prior to Faculty, he fulfilled the role of Account Director at AppDynamics, where he forged strong relationships with customers, helping them optimize their application performance and transform their operations.
Matt's early career included significant positions at CenturyLink, where he wore many hats from Senior Global Relationship Manager to Account Executive for National Accounts. His breadth of experience at CenturyLink allowed him to master intricate client management strategies and solidify long-term partnerships across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. His strategic thinking and nuanced understanding of international markets have been hallmarks of his career, contributing to significant revenue growth and operational efficiencies wherever he has worked.
Furthermore, Matt has also engaged in educational activities, serving as an Owner and Tutor at Big Wave Tutoring, where he taught Japanese in an engaging and accessible manner. This role not only reflects his language proficiency but also his dedication to education and mentorship.
Achievements and Impact
Matt Keyes's journey has been marked by significant achievements and a profound impact on the organizations and communities he has been a part of. He has consistently demonstrated a capacity for leadership and innovation, contributing to the successful integration of advanced technologies in traditional sectors. His efforts towards enhancing supply chain sustainability and driving efficiencies have positioned him as a sought-after thought leader in the industry. Moreover, his strong focus on collaboration and strategic partnerships has fostered environments where businesses can thrive collectively.
In the realm of private investment, his passion for working with entrepreneurs has led to the successful funding of numerous ventures, showcasing his belief in the future of innovative business ideas and their capability to disrupt the market positively. Matt strives to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs by providing not just financial backing but also invaluable insights gained from his extensive experience in diverse business environments.
As a testament to his leadership and expertise, Matt has also contributed to various discussions on the intersection of technology and procurement, offering strategic insights that have been well-received in industry circles. With a clear vision for the future of supply chains and a strong commitment to sustainable practices, he continues to influence the direction of the market positively.
Conclusion
Matt Keyes is a dynamic professional whose extensive background in supply chain management, technology, investment, and education commands respect in the industry. His unique blend of skills and experiences makes him a valuable asset to any organization. He is undoubtedly a thought leader and a proactive contributor to fostering sustainable and innovative business solutions, making a noteworthy impact on the industry. As he continues to forge ahead in his career, Matt is poised to achieve even greater success and play a pivotal role in shaping the future landscape of supply chain and procurement.
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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:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- 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.