杏吧原创

If you鈥檙e one of the more than 410,000 people who follow electrical engineering alum Vala Afshar 鈥�94, 鈥�96 , then you鈥檙e familiar with the engaging blend of tech industry insights and motivational messages that he tweets and retweets several times a day.聽

As 鈥淐hief Digital Evangelist鈥� at , the San Francisco-based cloud computing and customer relationship management software giant, it鈥檚 Afshar鈥檚 job to not only understand the forces behind the digital business revolution, but to share his insights with the world

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 go to UMass Lowell thinking I鈥檓 going to be a storyteller for one of the fastest growing, most successful companies in the world,鈥� says Afshar, who has twice been named the top social media influencer of chief marketing officers by Forbes.

Afshar joined Twitter in 2011 while CMO at Enterasys Networks in Andover. It turned out to be a career-defining move.

鈥淚 discovered that if you take that small step of sharing things that you find interesting on social media, over time, people will find you interesting,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o now, when I read an article or watch a TED Talk or I鈥檓 at a conference and someone is doing something that inspires me, I share that. Social changed my career.鈥�

Afshar鈥檚 family emigrated from Iran to the United States when he was 10. He didn鈥檛 speak English, but he was strong in math, which led him to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering at UMass Lowell. After a decade in industry as a software developer and test engineer, Afshar realized he was better at talking to customers than writing code. A marketing career was born.

鈥淭he teachers I have fond memories of are great storytellers,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey could explain not just the 鈥榳hat鈥� and the 鈥榟ow,鈥� but the 鈥榳hy.鈥� And when you understand the thing that you鈥檙e building, how it can advance society, whether in health care, education, whatever industry you end up serving, that鈥檚 important.鈥�

Afshar returns to his alma mater each fall to speak with students as part of 鈥淪alesforce Day,鈥� hosted by the Manning School of Business.

鈥淭he most important skill in a digital economy is your ability to stay teachable,鈥� Afshar says. 鈥淭he velocity of innovation is incredible. But everything that I remember about UMass Lowell 20 years ago still exists today. We鈥檙e producing talent that鈥檚 going to reinvent the future of this country, industries and companies. I鈥檓 just happy to come back and be a part of it.鈥�