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Richard Atkin
Chief Information Officer - Europe, Eurasia and Africa
Professional Background
Richard Atkin is a dynamic business and technology leader, bringing over 20 years of unparalleled experience in steering high-performing teams and crafting innovative solutions for complex business and operational challenges. With a focus on industries such as insurance, finance, and professional services, Richard has made remarkable strides in transforming organizations through a well-defined vision, strategic governance, and adept management practices. His formidable expertise encompasses various facets of programme and change management, further establishing him as a trusted figure at the senior management and board levels in any organization.
Richard's extensive career is characterized by a blend of leadership roles and consulting expertise, particularly in high-stakes environments where his proactive and pragmatic approach has consistently yielded success. He stands out for his ability to navigate both Waterfall and Agile methodologies, ensuring that projects are not only delivered on time but also aligned with the broader organizational goals and strategies.
Education and Achievements
Richard holds an MBA from Middlesex University, which has equipped him with the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for effective management in today's fast-paced business world. Complementing this is a BSc (Hons) Degree in Computers and Communication Systems from the University of Greenwich, which underscores his solid foundation in technology and its applications in business.
His qualifications are further enhanced by professional credentials including the APMG Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Advanced Practitioner and the ISEB Certificate in Project Management. These certifications reflect Richard's commitment to ongoing professional development and adherence to best practices in project and programme management.
Career Journey and Notable Positions
Richard's professional journey has seen him advance through a multitude of prestigious organizations, solidifying his reputation as a leader in the technology and business landscape. Currently, he serves as the Chief Information Officer for Europe, Eurasia, and Africa at Chubb, a global leader in insurance. In this capacity, Richard plays a pivotal role in shaping the technological direction and operational strategy for the organization, ensuring that it remains agile and competitive in a rapidly evolving market.
Prior to his current role, Richard was the Global Programme Manager at Chubb, where he was instrumental in overseeing large-scale initiatives that enhanced business efficiency and operational effectiveness.
His consulting background includes notable engagements with prestigious firms such as MSD and Aon Risk Solutions, where he enabled organizations to navigate complex regulatory environments and implement effective risk management strategies. Richard has also served as the Portfolio Director (Head of Business Continuity and IT for Underwriting) at Zurich Insurance Company Ltd., demonstrating his ability to lead critical IT projects that safeguard business continuity and enhance customer trust.
Earlier in his career, Richard held the position of COO/CIO at Selfnet Holdings Ltd, as well as Programme Manager roles at renowned companies including the Financial Services Authority, BSkyB, PwC, Thomson Reuters, and CSC. He began his career at IBM as a Senior Project Manager and later took on the role of Regional Manager for Technical Project Delivery at Computacenter.
Skills and Areas of Expertise
Richard has amassed a diverse skill set over his 20-year career, specializing in various areas essential for successful business transformations. His key areas of expertise include:
- Delivery of Complex Technology and Business Change: Masterfully managing projects that require both technical acumen and business insight to deliver significant value.
- Programme and Change Management: Leading transformations that align organizational objectives with innovative technology solutions.
- Portfolio Management: Strategically managing multiple projects to optimize resources and meet corporate goals.
- Budget and Resource Management: Skillfully aligning project budgets with organizational strategies, ensuring effective resource allocation and fiscal responsibility.
- Supplier Management: Establishing strong relationships with suppliers to enhance collaboration and unleash the potential of partnerships.
- Stakeholder Management and Communication: Excelling at managing key stakeholders across various levels to ensure transparency and alignment throughout project lifecycles.
- Organisational Design and Business Process Improvement: Developing frameworks for high-performance teams and optimizing business processes for enhanced efficiency.
- Risk, Issue & Dependency Management: Identifying potential risks and implementing strategies to mitigate them effectively.
- Cost/Benefit Management and Control: Evaluating the economic implications of projects to ensure justifiable investments.
- Management Reporting and Quality Assurance: Implementing practices for rigorous reporting that aligns with best practices for quality assurance and performance metrics.
- Account and Relationship Management: Cultivating strong relationships with clients and partners to drive successful outcomes and satisfaction.
Conclusion
Richard Atkin exemplifies the qualities of a consummate leader in business and technology. His two decades of experience, coupled with his extensive educational background and multiple certifications, make him a beacon of excellence in the fields of programme and change management. Richard continues to play a vital role in shaping the future of technology-enabled businesses, driving innovation, and ensuring organizations thrive in an increasingly complex and competitive 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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- 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 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.
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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.