BUILDING TOMORROW ON A CENTURY OF EXCELLENCE
AECI has been shaping industry and innovation in South Africa for more than a hundred years.
AECI has been shaping industry and innovation in South Africa for more than a hundred years. But the next chapter called for something even bigger: a transformation designed not only
to strengthen the business, but to uplift the 90,000 lives
it touches.
From 7,000 direct employees to 30,000 family members and dependents, plus 50,000+ community members who benefit from their operations, AECI's transformation would ripple far beyond corporate boundaries.
To realise their ambition of becoming truly purpose-led, they knew they couldn't go it alone.
They needed to bring the whole of AECI with them on One Journey, building a high-performance culture of innovation and excellence, underpinned by passionate and engaged people committed to inclusive excellence that extends across countries and communities.
The ask was not just a business transformation. It was a human transformation; changing not just how people work, but how they connect and grow, while reimagining what it means to lead and to build something that endures:
A future-facing business where culture is the ultimate competitive advantage.
WHAT WE BUILT
AECI partnered with TPA to design and embed a cultural architecture that could carry the organisation into its next era.
At the centre was the AECI Culture Code – a unifying set of behaviours and beliefs to guide how people work, lead, and grow. These weren’t statements on a wall. They were behavioural anchors, crafted to shape a culture of performance that feels real in every interaction.
To support this shift, a Leadership Compact was developed – a clear and deeply personal pact outlining the expectations and commitments that would shape every leader’s behaviour in service of AECI’s purpose.
Four leadership promises defined the tone:
"If service is beneath you, leadership is beyond you"
Trust is earned through humility.
"Better people make better leaders"
Growth starts from within.
"Dirty hands, full heart"
Leaders lead alongside, not above.
"Unearthing potential"
Every environment must unlock human possibility.
We weren’t interested in designing culture by committee. We were re-imagining culture as it lives in the everyday moments that define people’s experience of an organisation – the rituals, the conversations, the decisions, the leadership tone.
WHAT CHANGED?
AECI’s culture began to shift from static principle to lived experience.
Teams began finding clarity in the Culture Code. Leaders embraced the Compact not as compliance, but as commitment.
Across the Group, conversations deepened. Trust levels rose. People spoke more openly, listened more actively, and took greater responsibility for the environments they shape.
Employees started showing up not only with skills, but with belief. Leaders grew more comfortable leading with vulnerability, consistency, and purpose. And a stronger sense of shared identity began to emerge across geographies, functions, and business units.
AECI’s transformation is ongoing – but the shift is already taking hold: Performance is aligning with purpose. Leadership is grounded in service.
And a new generation of culture stewards is rising, ready to build the future. Because building tomorrow on a century of excellence isn’t about celebrating the past.
It’s about earning the right to lead what comes next – for the 90,000 lives this organisation touches, and for millions more benefitting from the bold future they are daring to imagine.