Choosing Renewal: AIT’s Breakthrough as a Family Business

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.

For many years, the company operated in a classic hierarchical style. Departments were neatly divided, instructions flowed downward, and employees focused on their piece of the puzzle without seeing the whole. By the late 2010s, however, the cracks showed. Bottlenecks slowed delivery, silos bred delays, and creativity was stifled by rigid approvals. Leadership understood the issue was not talent, but the system. Unless they unlocked the full potential of their people, AIT risked losing its edge in a market that demanded speed and originality.

In 2020, with more than 100 employees, AIT chose renewal. The company partnered with Teal Unicorn to adopt itsOpen Management system, which resonated strongly with the principles of RenDanHeYi. AIT reframed its mission to become an organisation where people were self-managing, purposeful, and highly skilled. The goal was not only to deliver projects quickly and beautifully but tobuild a structure where every person could see and shape the value they created. Transparency of information, distributed authority, and shared accountability became central to the strategy.

Market opportunities amplified this need. Automotive, motorbike, retail, and event communication sectors required partners who could respond with creativity and precision at speed. Clients such as Toyota and Honda wanted co-creation rather than order-taking. This expectation pulled AIT closer to customers, embodying the principle of zerodistance where user needs directly guide employee action.

The leadership team itself reflected the cultural change. CEO and founder Chau Lien Uong, who had guided the company for three decades, worked alongside Deputy Director of Production Anh Cuong Le, Deputy Director of Marketing Thanh Thuy Le, Creative Director My Linh Le Chau, and Project Manager Duc Anh Le. Together they modelled a shift from command to facilitation, removing obstacles and equipping teams to decide for themselves.

Departments gave way to multi-skilled teams capable of managing entire projects end-to-end. Daily stand-ups became the rhythm of coordination, solving blockers instantly rather than waiting for approvals. Shared Kanban boards ensured that priorities and progress were transparent, enabling trust and alignment across functions. Employees received training in project management, collaboration, and decision-making, strengthening their ability to act as entrepreneurs inside the company.

Suppliers and media agencies were drawn into this transformation too. Instead of operating on the margins, they became partners in delivery, involved in transparent planning cycles and sharing responsibility for final outcomes. This broader ecosystem approach reflected the RenDanHeYi vision of networks that create value together.

At the heart of the shift was daily practice. Each new project began with a dedicated team, its goals clearly defined and its decision-making power acknowledged. Leaders stepped in only when obstacles arose. Rather than hold lengthy meetings to assign blame, AIT designed short sessions where teams shared lessons, proposed solutions, andimmediately applied them. The focus moved from problems of the past to improvements for the future.

The outcomes confirmed the choice. By 2023, project delivery times had shortened, errors had declined, and qualityimproved. Employees grew more engaged and proactive, taking ownership and driving improvements beyond their formal roles. Clients responded with trust, awarding AIT new contracts and expanded responsibilities. Most importantly, business results were shared openly with employees, reinforcing the principle that when the company prospers, everyone benefits.

AIT’s journey shows how a family business with three decades of history can reinvent itself for the future. Guided by Teal Unicorn’s Open Management system and connected with the nine areas of RenDanHeYi, it has embeddedempowerment, zero distance with users, transparency of data, distributed leadership, partnership networks, daily action cycles, and shared rewards into its culture. What began as a necessity to survive has become a commitment to a way of working that unleashes the potential of every person and strengthens the ecosystem around them.