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Toby Smith
Director of Planning and Strategy, Identity and Security Operations
Professional Background
Toby Smith brings a wealth of experience to his role at Microsoft, having dedicated over two decades of his career to the company since joining in December 1999. Throughout his tenure, he has progressed through a variety of positions, showcasing his strong leadership and extensive expertise in the field of program management. Since 2008, Toby has held pivotal roles in people management, demonstrating his commitment to developing high-performing teams that drive results.
Currently, he leads a team of Business Program Managers within the Identity and Security Operations group, a critical segment of Microsoft’s Information Security and Risk Management (ISRM). This team is responsible for key topics and programs such as Access, Strong Authentication, Certificate Services, and Federation. Under Toby's leadership, the focus is not only on achieving organizational goals but also on fostering a collaborative environment where innovative solutions can flourish.
Toby possesses a unique skill set that includes a strong ability to drive results by leveraging organizational awareness and operational excellence. His extensive background is further supported by various certifications, including ITIL v2 Manager and v3 bridge certification, as well as training in Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF), Six Sigma, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), and methodologies such as Agile and Scrum. These skills enable Toby to navigate the complexities of project management while ensuring that strategic initiatives align with business objectives.
Education and Achievements
Toby's academic background laid a solid foundation for his successful career. He studied at Seattle Pacific University, focusing on English Literature, English, Philosophy, and Business. This diverse educational experience not only equipped him with analytical and critical thinking skills but also fostered a passion for effective communication—qualities that have been instrumental in his management roles.
Additionally, Toby attended Carroll College, where he further honed his skills and expanded his knowledge base. His studies reflect a commitment to lifelong learning and a pursuit of excellence, values that he carries into his professional endeavors.
Throughout his career at Microsoft, Toby has undertaken various leadership roles, each contributing significantly to his career trajectory. From serving as a Principal PM and Service Management Lead to his former positions as Principal PM Lead in Strategy and Planning, Toby has accumulated a wealth of experience that underscores his capability as a leader. He began his journey at Microsoft as a Business Manager and advanced through roles such as Service Manager and Business & Service Management Lead, each position reinforcing his expertise and knowledge in managing complex projects and high-performing teams.
Mentorship and Team Development
One of Toby's most notable passions lies in developing and mentoring talent within his teams. He believes in the power of collaboration and works tirelessly to bring people together to overcome challenges and simplify complex problems. His commitment to nurturing the next generation of leaders is evident in his approach to management. Toby takes the time to understand each team member's strengths and aspirations, providing guidance and support to help them reach their full potential.
Toby's leadership style is characterized by an emphasis on results, team cohesion, and operational excellence. He is always looking to strengthen his team with dedicated, results-oriented Program Managers and customer-focused Service Managers. This forward-thinking approach ensures that the team remains agile and effective in addressing the ever-evolving challenges of identity and security operations.
In summary, Toby Smith’s career at Microsoft is a testament to his dedication, expertise, and passion for leadership. With a strong educational background, extensive experience in program management, and a commitment to team development, Toby continues to make a significant impact within the organization and the wider technology industry.
Achievements
- Over 20 years of experience at Microsoft, including leadership roles since 2008.
- Lead teams in critical areas of Identity and Security Operations in ISRM.
- Certified in ITIL v2 and v3, Six Sigma methodologies, and Agile & Scrum frameworks.
- Strong focus on talent development and team mentoring, fostering high-performing teams.
Location
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.