Dennis Pilarinos leaves Microsoft to test free agency

After 9 years with Microsoft and two years leading the Microsoft Development Center in Vancouver, Dennis Pilarinos is a free agent.

The Toronto-born Microsoft veteran was exported back to Canada from Redmond in the summer of 2009 to fill the vacant Managing Director position. An impressive climb considering Pilarinos is a SFU Computing Science alumni that was hired by Microsoft after a successful co-op placement.

Pilarinos sat down with me on Monday evening to share his news and chat a bit about his future.

Not surprisingly the thirty-something Pilarinos would love to stay in Vancouver but also believes that a compelling opportunity could pull him south of the border.

Pilarinos is proud of what the local Microsoft Development team accomplished under his leadership and he's excited about what's in their pipeline and will be public soon. It's clear when chatting with Pilarinos that he believes Microsoft is a great company but that it's just time for him to move on and tackle a new challenge

If Pilarinos does find himself on a plane to the Valley or train back to Seattle, he's confident that he'll eventually end up back in Vancouver. That's a good thing for Vancouver as he's a huge advocate of the local tech scene. You may remember the feel-good Vancouver video that he along with entrepreneur Ian Bell were responsible for spearheading this time last year. Video after the jump.