Use systems thinking to see problems clearly. Use organisational mechanisms, digitalisation and AI to drive change.

For six years, I worked as a strategy consultant and digital-transformation project manager at Accenture and other Fortune Global 500 companies, delivering strategic planning and digital-transformation implementation for leading businesses in energy, power grids, manufacturing, recruitment and outsourcing. When I encountered China’s automotive exports, I saw enormous potential—and a clear gap: Chinese vehicles had gone abroad, but China’s service capability had not truly gone with them. That was when I became more certain about what I wanted to do: bring China’s advanced technology, high-quality products and high standards of service to a bigger world. Automotive aftersales was the first field where I chose to put that mission into practice. I left a USD 100K salary and moved to Kazakhstan.

I did not take a fixed salary; I entered a local workshop directly to lead its operating rebuild. In the first year, we helped more than 1,000 owners with aftersales needs, and the shop received 80–100 vehicles per month. I saw many practices that weakened service quality and slowed collaboration, but the reply was often: ‘This is Kazakhstan, not China.’ I did not give up. I insisted on keeping accounts. Through those books, I gradually saw the shop’s revenue structure, cost composition and payback cycle.

After the first year, I invested nearly USD 10K of my own money in deep study in China and systematic guidance from industry experts. I combined mature Chinese workshop operating systems with the real issues I had seen in Kazakhstan, gradually forming an operating method for overseas markets. We used the books to identify profit leakage, redesigned standard reception and bay processes, adjusted compensation and incentives, and managed cost and supply chains with greater precision.

Monthly vehicle count rose from 80–100 to a stable 180. Revenue grew from just over USD 20K to more than USD 60K and held for nine consecutive months. With no additional bays and only one or two extra team members, overall efficiency, service capability and team momentum improved noticeably. More importantly, even while I was in China for a month, the shop continued to operate through the mechanisms already in place, without a material decline in results. For the first time, I saw clearly that when people, roles, processes and ways of working gradually come into alignment, a business can operate without becoming overly dependent on any one person.

Based on my judgement of AI trends in China, I returned to begin a new entrepreneurial exploration. After that, the workshop entered a new stage, and its team structure, management approach and operating priorities also went through adjustments. As those established working relationships changed, some questions that had previously been handled consistently needed new answers in a new environment. The experience showed me that different team members have different strengths, and an operating system works best when those strengths can come together in the right roles. Stable operations do not depend only on any one person or one technical skill; they also depend on whether the team, mechanisms and processes can support one another. It also shaped how I understand AI transformation: AI is not simply about adding a few tools, but about building on an understanding of real business, people working together and operating processes. Only with a stable business foundation can AI genuinely enter the operating environment and create value over time.