by Ella, on 11 October, 2018
Vala Afshar is a digital marketing evangelist, author and Twitter storyteller. He contributes weekly technology, business and leadership articles to a variety of publications, as well as co-hosting the weekly video show DisrupTV. With an initial background in engineering, Vala is considered a pioneer in social technologies, business intelligence and customer relationship management (CRM).
Why we love him
Vala Afshar is SalesForce’s digital marketing evangelist. Widely regarded as a top martech and social media influencer (described as one of the best industry thought leaders by Forbes and Gartner amongst others), he is a regular contributor for renowned publications including Huffington Post and INC magazine.
Aside from this, Vala co-hosts DisrupTV - a weekly show covering the latest digital business and innovation market trends - interviewing Fortune 1000 business executives, start-up founders, venture capitalists and tech and media personalities. His book ‘’The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence’’ was published in 2012.
Credentials
- University of Massachusetts Lowell, Electrical Engineering
- Previously CMO and Chief Customer Officer, Enterasys Networks
- Previously Chief Marketing Officer, Extreme Networks
- Currently Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce
14 technologies of next decade:
— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) January 25, 2019
1 #AI
2 IoT⌚️
3 blockchain ⛓
4 3D print 🖨
5 mobile📱
6 autonomous cars 🚗
7 mobile internet 💻
8 robotics 🤖
9 VR/AR 👓
10 wireless power 🔋
11 quantum computing 🖥
12 5G 📡
13 voice assistant🎙
14 cybersecurity🔒#WEF19 pic.twitter.com/q5YSGN9R8h
Fun facts
- In March 2018, Vala sponsored the Vatican's first ever hackathon, participated by over 120 students from around the world
- Vala is a two-time Stevie Award winner stemming from his experience as CMO for Enterasys and Extreme Networks
Where to find out more
- Salesforce.com: Vala has written various blogs and pieces of content for the Salesforce platform
- Huffington post: Vala's articles and blogs for the publication
- DisrupTV: weekly Web series Vala co-hosts with R "Ray" Wang
- Why not check out his book, The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence
Follow Vala Afshar
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