Jean Paoli has long believed the most valuable asset for any business is data, and that data can be represented in a simple, recognizable and flexible form that travels from one server to another, from a server to a client workstation, and from application to application, thus fostering universal communication among workers. And he has passionately advocated since 1985 that the technology that can deliver on that vision is XML (eXtensible Markup Language).

Paoli, senior director of XML architecture at Microsoft, is widely recognized as one of the co-creators of the XML 1.0 standard with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and has been a significant player in the worldwide XML community since 1985, when the technology was known as SGML (Standard General Markup Language). He helped jumpstart XML activity at Microsoft beginning in 1996 by creating and managing the team that delivered the software that XML-enabled Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Windows. Later he helped architect the XML support in the Microsoft Office System and was instrumental in creating the Microsoft Office InfoPath program.

Paoli spoke with PressPass about the XML community's original vision for the technology, the role Microsoft has played in making that vision real, and the state of XML today.