Basetis and the Architecture of Trust

This blog post is part of 80+ case studies of progressive organizations we created for the ZeroDX awards 2025. These organizations embody the principles of RenDanHeYi in their work structures:

• Zero Distance to customer: Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace

• Autonomy: Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution

• Shared Rewards: Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success.

By 2010, the company had hired its first employee. Within five years, the team had passed the 100-person mark, and by 2016, Basetis had reached a turning point. Rapid expansion had led to layers of hierarchy that no longer matched the company’s original spirit. Teams were delivering strong work, but decision-making was slow and uneven. Thestructure was beginning to weigh down the very energy that had allowed Basetis to grow.

Marc had never been drawn to formal power. As the company’s organisation became more rigid, he began questioning its long-term sustainability. Around this time, he encountered Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. The book’s vision of purpose-driven, self-managing companies resonated with the culture Basetis already valued: trust, autonomy, and human dignity. He shared the book with the leadership team, and over the following year, they prepared for a transformation grounded not in hierarchy, but in shared responsibility.

In 2016, Basetis began what it called “Reinventing Basetis.” The company removed its CEO role and began shifting authority closer to the teams delivering value. This decentralisation reflected a foundational RenDanHeYi principle: that decisions should be made at the edge, as close as possible to their impact. Over time, formal roles were replaced with structures that distributed leadership across service teams, support areas, and elected groups.

At the heart of Basetis today are 13 or 14 autonomous service teams, each focused on a specific technical domain. These teams decide what services to offer, how to structure themselves internally, and how to manage their client relationships. They function as semi-independent units with control over their scope, pricing, and delivery. While not legally separate entities, they mirror the RenDanHeYi concept of micro-enterprises with independent P&L responsibility. Financial data is sharedopenly, and teams are expected to understand their costs, margins, and sustainability.

Surrounding the service teams are 16 support areas that take care of cross-cutting needs such as recruitment, onboarding, training, communication, and compensation. These areas were originally decision-making bodies but havesince evolved into facilitators. If multiple teams share a need, a support area coordinates a solution. If not, teams are free to act independently. This shift reflects the RenDanHeYi principle of decentralisation, allowing the organisation to stay flexible while enabling coordination without central control.

To provide broad alignment and reflection, Basetis holds annual elections for a Global Team. Thirteen people areselected through an open vote, and their role is purely advisory. Anyone can run, either individually or in pairs. Thisensures diversity of thought and participation from across the company. The Global Team helps maintain coherence without imposing direction, offering a support structure rather than a command layer.

Client-facing representation is handled by a separate group. Instead of assigning fixed executives, the Representation Group selects the right person to speak for Basetis in each external engagement. Whether with clients, partners, orpress, the idea is to ensure relevance, credibility, and context. The absence of permanent titles reflects the company's belief that leadership is situational and earned through trust.

Transparency is woven through every layer. Salaries are public. Cost and revenue data are accessible to all. The company has adopted the Tinbergen Rule to cap the ratio between the lowest and highest salaries at 1:7.5, reinforcing its commitment to fairness and inclusion. The aim is not just openness for its own sake, but to enable every employee to make informed, responsible decisions. Basetis is now expanding its internal training on businessfundamentals so that team members understand the financial context of their work. This supports the RenDanHeYi principle of equipping employees with the knowledge needed to operate like owners.

The salary model is built on peer judgment rather than hierarchy. When a new person joins, their referring colleague proposes a salary through an advice process. Once on board, each team member can initiate their own salary reviewby selecting three peers to assess their contribution. If the assessments align, the salary is updated. If not, the person and peers discuss the difference. The system isn’t algorithmic. It depends on trust, context, and open communication. “It’s not perfectly fair,” said Andreu Carreras, Basetis’ first employee, “but it’s fair enough because it’s transparent.”

Work-life balance and well-being are deeply embedded in how Basetis operates. The company offers flexible working arrangements, telecommuting, mental health support, and co-financed training. A shadowing program supports integration for new hires, and internal “Experiences” allow employees to explore new technologies or ideas. These cultural features reflect another central RenDanHeYi idea: wholeness at work, where employees are not only enabled to perform but encouraged to grow as full people.

Basetis has also made strong commitments to social responsibility. Its corporate policies are aligned with eleven of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with particular emphasis on equality, decent work, climate action, anddemocratic participation. These values shape not only what Basetis builds, but how it chooses to build it.

The transition to self-management has not been without challenges. Feedback remains an area for improvement. While Basetis has developed tools and processes to support a feedback culture, giving and receiving constructive input is still uncomfortable for many. “We’re not used to it,” Marc acknowledged. “But we’re learning.”

Strategic planning has also evolved. Basetis now works in six-month cycles. The Global Team sets an annual vision, and support areas propose their objectives through OKRs. These are reviewed and aligned with input from across theorganisation. The Strategy Team supports the process but does not set priorities. As Andreu explained, the biggestchallenge is not direction, but time. Making space for long-term thinking alongside daily responsibilities remains a workin progress.

Even the company’s physical location reflects its philosophy. Since 2018, Basetis has been headquartered in La Pedrera, Gaudí’s iconic building in central Barcelona. The foundation that manages the space selected Basetis not only for its economic offer, but for its social ethos. A company organised around trust, self-management, and purposefelt like the right tenant for one of the city’s most symbolic spaces.

In 2024, Basetis received the Mercè Sala Award for people-centered management and time reform, as well as nationalrecognition for its flexibility and self-organised model. Yet Marc and Andreu continue to look ahead. With the CEO role removed, Marc is now reflecting on what it would mean to distribute ownership as well. He is exploring steward ownership as a potential next step. “We’ve removed the CEO,” he said. “Now we’re asking what it means to removethe owner too.”

Basetis didn’t rush its transformation. It built it, conversation by conversation, over years. What emerged is a company that feels less like an organisation and more like a shared project. With no CEO, no central authority, and no perfectformula, it has found something better: trust strong enough to stand on its own.