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Ryan Aviles
Senior Manager, Engineering at Credit Karma
Professional Background
Ryan Aviles has built an impressive career in software engineering and management, showcasing his extensive expertise in technology and innovation. Currently, he serves as the Senior Manager of Engineering at Credit Karma, where he plays a critical role in leading engineering teams to deliver high-quality financial technology solutions. Ryan's wealth of experience in diverse fast-paced environments has equipped him with a unique perspective on the intersection of engineering and business, empowering him to drive exceptional outcomes in every organization he joins.
Before joining Credit Karma, Ryan held significant positions at Ticketmaster, where he excelled as both the Senior Director of Engineering and previously as Director of Engineering. In these roles, he was responsible for leading teams dedicated to enhancing the ticketing experience and optimizing systems to manage high-demand sporting and entertainment events. His leadership at Ticketmaster showcased his ability to align technical teams with company goals, delivering innovative solutions that meet the challenges of a dynamic market.
Prior to his time at Ticketmaster, Ryan expanded his technical repertoire as the Contract CTO at Coffee Meets Bagel, where he played an integral role in developing strategic technology solutions to further enhance user engagement and retention on the dating platform. Additionally, as a Technical Co-Founder at Adventr, he was pivotal in pioneering innovative product designs that helped shape the company's vision and objectives from the ground up.
Ryan's solid foundation in engineering began during his early career as a Software Engineer at prominent firms such as Lehman Brothers and Trading Technologies. At Bloomberg LP, he served as a Technical Lead / Senior Engineer and contributed significantly to developing high-performance trading solutions used in global markets. His diverse roles have refined his technical skills and fostered his talent for leading teams effectively in high-pressure environments.
Overall, Ryan Aviles' career trajectory reflects a remarkable journey characterized by progressive leadership roles and impactful contributions to the technology sector. His ability to harness the latest advancements in computer science to create user-centric solutions makes him a valuable asset to any organization.
Education and Achievements
Ryan Aviles studied for his M.S. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he developed a robust foundation in software development, data structures, algorithms, and system design. His education has equipped him with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in a continuously evolving field. The rigorous academic setting provided him with the opportunity to engage in collaborative projects and research that have had a lasting impact on his approach to technology and leadership.
Throughout his career, Ryan has achieved numerous milestones that reflect his dedication to engineering excellence and innovation. His work at Credit Karma has contributed to the company's reputation as a leading provider of financial technology solutions, enhancing the experience of millions of users seeking assistance with their financial needs. His strategic vision and technical acumen have also been instrumental in advancing Ticketmaster’s engineering initiatives, significantly impacting how ticketing systems are developed and optimized.
Ryan's tenure in various leadership positions in high-profile companies underscores his adaptability and commitment to nurturing talent within his teams. His hands-on approach has inspired many future engineers and technologists in their growth, establishing a culture of mentorship that propels teams forward in achieving their collective goals.
Notable Achievements
- Leadership at Credit Karma: Successfully leading engineering teams to innovate and enhance financial management solutions.
- Engineering Excellence at Ticketmaster: Contributed to the development of one of the world’s leading ticketing platforms, optimizing systems to better manage event demand and provide seamless user experiences.
- Technological Advancements at Coffee Meets Bagel: Played a crucial role in technological developments to enhance user engagement on the dating platform.
- Pioneering Innovations at Adventr: Instrumental in creating product designs that establish the company's footprint in the tech landscape.
- Technical Leadership at Bloomberg LP: Led engineering teams to develop some of the most relied-upon trading systems in the finance industry, showcasing his ability to merge technical proficiency with market needs.
- Diverse Industry Experience: Garnering extensive experience across finance, entertainment, and dating technology sectors, equipping him with a multifaceted perspective on business challenges and technological solutions.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.