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After visiting Vietnam for the first time last year as a Senior Leadership Team in Ho Chi Minh City, 2025 marked another milestone for WIRO: our second year visiting Vietnam this time bringing the full SLT together to meet our entire Vietnamese team, in Hanoi.
What began as a small experiment in remote working during COVID has now evolved into one of WIRO’s biggest strengths: a global, location-agnostic team built around talent, culture, and collaboration rather than geography.
Our Hanoi meet-up was the perfect reminder of why that shift has transformed WIRO for the better.
Why Vietnam and Why Now?
Since moving away from an in-house model after COVID, WIRO has intentionally built a fully remote and global structure. The goal was simple: find the best people, wherever they live, and empower them to do the best work of their careers.
Vietnam quickly became a central part of that story.
From UI designers to senior developers, the depth of talent we’ve found in the region has accelerated the quality, pace, and ambition of our work. And while remote-first is our norm, we’ve always believed that periodically bringing people together matters not for productivity alone, but for trust, connection, and culture.
This year, the SLT flew out to Hanoi for a full week of in-person collaboration with the Vietnamese team.
As Mymy, one of our UI Designers put it:
A Week of Collaboration, Communication & Creative Energy
We hired a co-working space in central Hanoi and spent the week working side-by-side.
Usually we operate as a fully remote, global team but for one week only, everyone worked from one office, making decision-making faster, communication smoother, and the vibes unmatched.
Chien, one of our Shopify Developers, summed up the energy in the office perfectly:
This was more than a meet-up. It was a reset, a recharge, and a reminder that our people are the culture. And the team felt it too.
Team Voices From the Week
A meet-up like this isn’t defined by the itinerary it’s defined by the people in the room.
Every conversation, shared meal, moment of laughter, and late-night adventure shaped the energy of the week in Hanoi. And while we can talk about the strategy, the benefits of remote culture, or the impact on collaboration, the most meaningful reflections always come from the team themselves. The heart of this meet-up wasn’t the co-working space or the activities, it was the people.
Here is a reflection from Long on what the week meant to him:
Beyond the Office: Exploring Hanoi Together
Of course, no WIRO meet-up is complete without a bit of chaos, food and antics.
We spent our evenings exploring:
- Local markets filled with colours, noise and incredible street food
- Cafés and bars tucked away in Hanoi’s endless side streets
- Beer Street, where we became (temporary) experts in Vietnamese beer culture 🍺
- The iconic Train Street, waiting for the trains to pass just inches away 🚆
Every shared meal, every laugh, every late-night wander added layers to our team dynamic.
Even our shyest team members came out of their shells something that was noticeable not just socially, but back in the workspace too. The surge in confidence was huge!
And with all that energy, the excitement carried straight into the work. As Tom shared:
What This Week Taught Us About Leading a Global Team
WIRO today, looks nothing like WIRO back in 2020…
Back then, our entire team worked in-house, in the same physical space. Today, we’re spread across the UK, Europe, and Asia and yet we are more aligned, more connected, and more culturally strong than ever before.
Here’s what Vietnam reminded us of:
1. Location-Agnostic Talent Wins, Every Time
When we removed geographical limits, our talent pool expanded overnight.
The result?
A stronger, more diverse, more capable team.
2. Remote Works, But In-Person Still Matters
A Google Meet is efficient.
Slack is convenient.
But nothing replaces the energy of being in the same room even if it’s only a few times a year.
3. Culture Isn’t Built by Perks, It’s Built by People
Beer Street helped, but the real magic came from shared effort, shared challenges, and shared wins.
4. Global Teams Require Intentional Leadership
Consistency, clarity, and communication have to be engineered, not assumed.
And our SLT’s presence in Vietnam underscored that commitment.
Amy, our Operations Director, reflected on what the week revealed about the culture we’ve built across continents:
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Looking Ahead: WIRO’s Global Future
Our second Vietnam visit isn’t the end of the story, it’s proof of concept. WIRO will continue to be:
- Location-agnostic
- People-first
- Culture-led
- Globally connected
We’ll keep meeting, collaborating and building relationships across borders, because this isn’t just about productivity.
It’s about designing a team culture that makes people feel valued, confident, supported and proud to be here.
Hanoi was a reminder of who we are becoming. And we’re only just getting started.
And hey, our clients are global… so why shouldn’t we be!?
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