Good Business to do Good Things

Times were not ideal when Farman Syed M.B.A.’10 decided to change his career.

In the middle of a recession and what would eventually be more than two decades at Apple, Syed felt stuck. Instead of coding behind the scenes, Syed wanted to communicate with consumers about the products that could change their lives. 

He took a chance and applied to Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. The rest is history.

“With the help of Fuqua, I was successfully able to move from engineering to product,” Syed says. “And I’ve been doing that ever since.”

As head of product, Syed blended his passion for storytelling and technology through product marketing, eventually with an environmental lens. During COVID-19, he searched for new projects and was tasked with building a case for consumers to use cleaner energy features on their electronic devices. Clean energy generates power that is renewable with zero-emissions of greenhouse gases. 

Specifically, Syed helped create Clean Energy Charging, a feature that runs Apple products during cleaner energy times, as well as Grid Forecast, which shows customer when cleaner energy is powering their homes. The electricity that runs our homes and workplaces can be made of different sources; these features can distinguish between those sources and help customers maximize when they are run. It’s a win-win for the environment and business: They can live together and even be symbiotic. Success in business doesn’t always mean it is antithetical to the environment, Syed says.

Those insights have led him back to Duke to share his expertise with students. 

When Rachel Settle '19, one of Syed’s mentees and now an adjunct professor at the Pratt School of Engineering, was teaching a course on product management, she invited Syed to speak to her class about his career experiences. That turned into three more Pratt seminars, speaking with students at the Center for Muslim Life, and more. 

Syed also has gone back into the classroom at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability to speak to students about how product management can be interconnected with clean energy and the environment. 

“The Nicholas Institute reinforces to students that good business can do good things for the environment, and being in the classroom with students who understand this is very rewarding,” he says. 

Today, Syed is on yet another reinvention in his journey. After more than 20 years at Apple, he is taking time to spend with his family. In the meantime, Syed plans to continue coming back to Duke, with increasing speaking opportunities with students and engagement through mentorship as a priority. As his story continues, he’s happy to continue sharing it with students. 

“What you’re doing now, your major, it doesn’t dictate exactly what you have to do in life.” Syed says. “We do our best work when we apply what we’re good at to something we’re passionate about.”