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S. Piyum Samaraweera
Chief Product Officer (CPO)
Professional Background
S. Piyum Samaraweera is a dynamic customer-focused product development leader with over 25 years of comprehensive experience in building web applications and services tailored for Software as a Service (SaaS) and Cloud companies. Throughout his illustrious career, he has consistently demonstrated his expertise in both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets, with a strong focus on the fintech sector. His robust background in product management is complemented by a deep understanding of Agile transformation, enabling organizations to efficiently manage changes and deliver outstanding results.
Samaraweera's career is marked by an impressive list of leadership roles where he has been responsible for not only envisioning product strategies but also guiding these strategies through to execution. He has a profound ability to create a high-performance organization (HPO) and foster a culture that emphasizes both innovation and customer focus. His passion lies in aligning product vision with market needs, ensuring that the voice of the customer is always at the forefront of product development. Piyum has excelled in translating strategic roadmaps into actionable plans, driving positive customer experiences measured through key metrics such as Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT).
Education and Achievements
S. Piyum Samaraweera's educational background is grounded in solid academic foundations that have greatly contributed to his success in the tech and product development landscape. He holds an MBA with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Bentley University’s McCallum Graduate School of Business, where he cultivated a deep understanding of how to leverage technology and processes for strategic advantage. Prior to this, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics, complemented by a Certificate in Marketing from the prestigious University of Rochester. His early education was received at Winchester High, where he began developing the analytical and leadership skills that would serve as a solid bedrock for his future endeavors.
Piyum has played pivotal roles in well-respected organizations, showcasing his abilities from the ground up. Some notable positions include his tenure as the Chief Product Officer at Rightworks, where he spearheaded the transformation of product strategies to meet evolving market demands. He has also made significant contributions as a consultant focused on product and portfolio strategies, providing insights that drive growth and innovation.
Throughout his career, he has held several Chief Product Officer roles at notable companies such as Greenlight Guru and FieldRoutes, the latter of which was acquired by ServiceTitan. His leadership at RealPage, Inc. as Senior Vice President of Product for Mixed Portfolio Business allowed him to oversee diverse product offerings, further enhancing his strategic and operational capabilities. His executive positions at Buildium, Endurance International Group, and Constant Contact exemplify his versatile experience in product management across various sectors and market dynamics.
Achievements
Piyum Samaraweera’s achievements are a testament to his unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation in product management. His leadership has consistently resulted in significant revenue growth and improved customer engagement, positioning the companies he has worked with as leaders in their respective fields. He has successfully navigated numerous acquisitions and integrations within the companies he served, ensuring seamless transitions while maintaining product integrity and customer satisfaction.
Under his guidance, teams have achieved high standards of performance, propelled by his emphasis on creating a culture of empathy and responsiveness to customer needs. The frameworks he has implemented in voice of customer initiatives, lean startup principles, and Agile methodologies have fostered an organization-wide commitment to delivering remarkable products.
Piyum’s expertise extends beyond product development; he has been instrumental in shaping organizational strategies that promote scalability. His ability to create structured roadmaps for product development while aligning business goals with market trends has empowered teams to respond proactively to industry changes, setting the stage for long-term success.
With a proven track record of leading product teams, launching successful web and mobile applications, and enhancing customer loyalty through strategic vision, S. Piyum Samaraweera is undoubtedly an influential figure in the tech industry. His career trajectory exemplifies a dedication to product excellence and customer satisfaction, enhancing user experiences in fintech and beyond. As he continues to push boundaries and lead with passion, he remains a key player in the ongoing evolution of SaaS and cloud-based 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.
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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 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.