MSDW Podcast: Paul Soliman on the Power Platform opportunity in the Philippines and beyond

Paul Soliman is one of the newest Microsoft MVPs and the first for business applications in the Philippines. As we learned from our recent profile piece, Paul splits his time between running two businesses, Hacktiv and Raven Global Ventures and helping to organize his country's growing business apps community group, which has grown from single digits to hundreds of members. Paul sat down to discuss his experiences in more depth, including his work experiences at major Dynamics NAV customers in his country and his realization at the possibilities of the Power Platform to transform businesses and careers.

(Editor's note: We had some audio engineering issues, some parts of the interview have a bit of distortion, but it is still easy to understand.)

Show Notes

• 2:45 - Paul's experience getting started in the Dynamics NAV space, including what he learned about corporate culture from his early employers
• 5:30 - Experiences as an admin on a legacy ERP and exploring open source enterprise software
• 10:00 - Transitioning to a consulting role and working with the Philippine Red Cross
• 13:30 - Using empathic listening
• 15:45 - Embracing the Power Platform
• 17:00 - What it took to become an entrepreneur
• 20:00 - Why focus on the Philippine market for his company's solutions
• 23:45 - Favorite Power Platform use cases so far
• 27:45 - The types of people who find roles via Hacktiv
• 30:40 - Paul's early experiences as a Microsoft MVP
• 32:40 - What's next in the Philippines Dynamics community
• 36:30 - New and upcoming technology Paul is excited about: Adaptive cards, Teams, and more