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Steve Ruston
Chief Transformation Officer at SQA Consulting Limited, specialising in Transformation, Due Diligence & Programme recovery
Professional Background
Steve Ruston is a distinguished Leader in Technology Transformation with an impressive career marked by significant contributions to various organizations including traditional banking, digital technology, and retail sectors. He currently serves as the Chief Transformation Officer at SQA Consulting Limited, where he leveraging his extensive experience in facilitating strategic changes and digital innovations to enhance operational efficiencies. With an impressive tenure in the field, Steve has built a reputation for spearheading transformational projects that drive business growth.
Steve's career includes a wealth of experience from notable organizations where he has played crucial roles in digital transformation and innovation. For instance, he was the Interim Vice President of Technology and Transformation at DOCOMO Digital, where he led initiatives that accelerated the digital journey and focused on evolving technology landscape in payment solutions. Before that, he served as the Technology Delivery Director at Summit, enhancing the organization’s online retail capabilities.
His journey through the telecom and banking industries adds another layer to his expertise. As the Payments Acquiring Programme Delivery Lead at Mercury Processing Services International, Steve directed programs that improved transaction processing technologies. Simultaneously, as the Consumer Banking Digital Studio Director at Wipro Digital, he crafted customer-centric strategies that were pivotal for enhancing banking experiences in the digital realm.
Education and Achievements
Steve Ruston is an alumnus of Denstone College, where he laid the foundational knowledge and skills that have propelled his successful career. The education he received there equipped him with critical thinking and leadership skills that would serve him throughout his multifaceted career.
Over the years, Steve has been recognized not only for his leadership abilities but also for his significant involvement in strategic technology initiatives. This includes his role within the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, where he contributed insights that shape contemporary business strategies and corporate transformations. His remarkable input reflects his commitment to knowledge sharing and a forward-thinking approach that drives innovation.
Steve's career also showcases significant achievements in digital transformation roles across various organizations. His stint at the Royal Bank of Scotland Business and Lloyds Banking Group as a Senior Digital Transformation Programme Manager exemplifies his capacity to lead large-scale projects aimed at integrating digital technology with business strategies. At Mozilla Corporation, he was responsible for directing the Payments Programme, where he played a vital role in processing and technology innovation initiatives that laid the groundwork for future advancements in payment solutions.
Further extending his range of expertise, Steve has also taken on various project management roles at prominent telecommunications and technology firms such as Vodafone, T-Mobile, and the BBC. His diverse experiences contribute a deep understanding of both the technical and commercial aspects of digital transformation, making him a valued asset wherever he dedicates his talents.
Skills and Areas of Expertise
Steve Ruston's career reflects a breadth of skills that cover technical project management, digital technology, transformation strategies, and customer engagement in various sectors including finance, telecommunications, and consultancy. His leadership style emphasizes collaboration, innovation, and a strategic approach to problem-solving. Not only is he adept at managing teams, but he also excels in stakeholder engagement, which is crucial for driving transformation in large organizations. His experiences in project management, particularly in sectors with evolving technologies, make him highly skilled at navigating the complexities that come with integration and digitalization.
From overseeing the digital transformation programmes at financial institutions to leading innovative projects at technology companies, Ruston's diverse skill set encompasses management, delivery, and execution of complex projects, making him instrumental in achieving organizations' strategic goals. Steve continues to advocate for embracing new technologies and methodologies that align with the dynamic landscape of business needs.
Achievements
Among his numerous accomplishments, Steve Ruston's contribution to advancing digital solutions is notable, especially in the areas of payment systems and online banking transformation. His strategic vision and project leadership have not only positioned organizations for success in digital initiatives but have also built superior customer experiences. Steve believes that the future lies in continual adaptation to technology trends and consumer behavior, a principle that he actively implements in his work.
As he moves forward in his career at SQA Consulting Limited, he remains dedicated to fostering innovation and leading organizations through successful transformations that position them to thrive in the market. With a firm grounding in the latest technological advancements and a hallmark of successful project delivery, Steve Ruston is set to continue making impactful contributions in the technology and transformation 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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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.
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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.