Airwallex
What's the Company Culture Like at Airwallex?
Frequently Asked Questions
Airwallex's culture is built around speed, ownership and craftsmanship, creating an environment where employees are trusted to solve complex problems, move quickly and make decisions with long-term impact. As a global fintech serving more than 676,000 businesses across dozens of markets, the company encourages employees to think like founders while working collaboratively across engineering, product, commercial and operations teams. Rather than relying on broad corporate values, Airwallex operates through 12 Operating Principles that define both who employees strive to be and how they work together every day.
- A builder-first culture guided by Operating Principles: Airwallex's culture is centered on entrepreneurial thinking and continuous improvement. Employees are encouraged to be Visionary, Curious, Reliable, Determined, Resilient and Optimistic, while demonstrating behaviors such as Prioritize Customers, Move Fast with Conviction, Champion Craftsmanship, Take Ownership, Never Settle and Optimize for Long-Term Value. These principles influence hiring, promotions, recognition and everyday decision-making, helping teams move quickly while maintaining a consistently high bar for execution.
- Fast-moving with meaningful ownership: Employees are given significant responsibility early in their careers and are encouraged to solve problems rather than wait for direction. Teams work in an environment that values experimentation, thoughtful risk-taking and rapid iteration, allowing employees to contribute to products that power global payments, banking and financial infrastructure. One employee described Airwallex as “high-impact work with a lot of smart people,” while another shared that “There are many learning opportunities and growth.”
- People and culture remain strategic priorities: As Airwallex has scaled globally, it has continued investing in the employee experience through expanded total rewards, stronger office communities, leadership development and regular employee engagement initiatives. Employees participate in office lunches, social events, hackathons and cross-office activities designed to strengthen collaboration while maintaining the company's entrepreneurial culture across more than 27 global offices.
- Transparent leadership and continuous improvement: Leadership emphasizes openness through company-wide updates, executive fireside chats and regular communication around business performance and strategy. Employee feedback also plays an important role in shaping the workplace through twice-yearly engagement surveys and action plans led by People Partners, reinforcing a culture that values listening and continuous improvement.
- External signals:
- Culture & Values: Airwallex is rated highly for its entrepreneurial environment, talented colleagues and opportunities to make an impact, with positive Culture & Values feedback on Glassdoor. (Glassdoor)
- Employee sentiment: Indeed reviews frequently highlight the company's collaborative teams, challenging work and opportunities for professional growth in a fast-paced environment. (Indeed)
- Best Employer recognition: Airwallex received the 2025 Best Employer Award at the Asia FinTech Awards. (Asia FinTech Awards)
- Best Places to Work: Airwallex was named 2026 Best U.S. Large Companies to Work For, Best Large Places to Work in San Francisco, and Best Places to Work in San Francisco lists. (Built In)
Bottom line: Airwallex's culture is designed for people who enjoy building, learning and taking ownership. Guided by clearly defined Operating Principles, transparent leadership and a strong emphasis on craftsmanship and customer impact, employees have opportunities to solve meaningful global challenges while growing alongside one of the world's fastest-scaling fintech companies.
Airwallex collaborates through globally distributed, cross-functional teams that combine clear ownership with shared accountability. Because the company builds financial infrastructure used by businesses around the world, engineers, product managers, designers, commercial teams and operations specialists work closely together across regions to solve complex customer problems, launch products quickly and continuously improve the platform.
- Cross-functional teams with clear ownership: Rather than operating in functional silos, Airwallex organizes work around shared customer outcomes. Product, engineering, design, commercial and operations teams collaborate throughout the product lifecycle, allowing ideas to move quickly from concept to launch while maintaining clear ownership and accountability for results.
- Global collaboration across markets: With employees distributed across Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and the Middle East, collaboration is designed to leverage diverse perspectives while serving customers around the world. Teams regularly partner across offices to build products supporting global payments, embedded finance, banking and spend management, creating opportunities for employees to work with colleagues from different markets and backgrounds.
- Open communication and continuous alignment: Airwallex encourages frequent communication through team standups, retrospectives, company all-hands, functional forums and leadership updates that help teams stay aligned as the business scales. The company's Operating Principles—including Move Fast with Conviction, Take Ownership and Prioritize Customers—provide a common framework for decision-making across functions and geographies.
- Innovation through shared problem solving: Collaboration is reinforced through hackathons, internal AI initiatives and cross-functional innovation projects that bring together employees from different disciplines to solve customer challenges. These initiatives help teams experiment quickly, learn from one another and continuously improve both products and internal processes.
- External signals:
- Team culture: Comparably employee feedback highlights Airwallex's collaborative environment and talented coworkers as strengths of the employee experience. (Comparably)
- Innovation: Fast Company ranked Airwallex No. 3 in Finance among the World's Most Innovative Companies in 2025, reflecting the company's ability to execute through highly collaborative product and engineering teams. (Fast Company)
- Employee experience: Glassdoor reviews frequently reference supportive colleagues, smart teams and opportunities to collaborate on technically challenging work. (Glassdoor)
- Best Employer recognition: Airwallex received the 2025 Best Employer Award at the Asia FinTech Awards and earned three Built In 2026 Best Places to Work awards. (Asia FinTech Awards; Built In)
Bottom line: Airwallex combines global collaboration with clear ownership, allowing cross-functional teams to move quickly while staying aligned around customer outcomes. Supported by shared Operating Principles, open communication and a strong builder mindset, employees work together to solve complex financial challenges at international scale.
Airwallex recognizes employee contributions through a combination of performance-based rewards, career advancement, peer recognition and regular employee feedback. Rather than focusing on a single recognition program, the company ties rewards to individual impact, team performance and the behaviors outlined in its Operating Principles, reinforcing both business results and the way employees achieve them.
- Performance is rewarded through comprehensive total rewards: Airwallex offers competitive market-based compensation supported by discretionary annual bonuses, long-term equity (RSUs in most markets) and formal merit review cycles. Compensation decisions are designed to recognize individual performance while aligning employees with the company's long-term growth and success.
- Career progression is formally recognized: Employees participate in structured performance and development reviews throughout the year, with managers providing regular coaching, career conversations and feedback. Internal engagement results show 88% of employees had a career discussion with their manager during the previous six months, reinforcing Airwallex's focus on continuous development rather than annual reviews alone. Promotions and career milestones are also recognized during regional and company-wide meetings.
- Recognition is tied to growth and impact: Airwallex recognizes employees through continuous feedback, twice-yearly performance reviews, promotion cycles and manager-led coaching rather than relying only on annual evaluations. Managers regularly celebrate achievements, provide developmental feedback and connect individual contributions to company goals. As one employee shared, "There are many learning opportunities and growth," reflecting how strong performance is recognized through expanded responsibilities, career progression and ongoing development rather than one-time awards. Employees who demonstrate Airwallex's Operating Principles and deliver meaningful business results are recognized through advancement opportunities, differentiated rewards and greater ownership.
- Employee feedback drives continuous improvement: Recognition at Airwallex extends beyond rewards by ensuring employees have a voice in shaping the company. Twice-yearly engagement surveys consistently achieve approximately 93% participation, with leaders using employee feedback to improve policies, development programs and the overall employee experience.
- External signals:
- Employee recognition: Comparably employee feedback highlights recognition for individual contributions and opportunities to make meaningful impact within the business. (Comparably)
- Employer recognition: Airwallex won the 2025 Best Employer Award at the Asia FinTech Awards, reflecting the company's broader investment in employee experience. (Asia FinTech Awards)
- Innovation recognition: Airwallex was ranked No. 3 in Finance among the World's Most Innovative Companies in 2025, recognizing the company's ability to foster innovation across its teams. (Fast Company)
- Best Places to Work: Built In named Airwallex to three 2026 Best Places to Work lists in the United States. (Built In)
Bottom line: Airwallex recognizes employee contributions by combining competitive rewards, long-term ownership, structured career progression and peer recognition with a culture that celebrates innovation, craftsmanship and customer impact. Employees are rewarded not only for what they accomplish, but also for how they embody the company's Operating Principles.
Airwallex's culture is intentionally built around a clear set of Operating Principles that influence nearly every aspect of the employee experience—from hiring and onboarding to leadership, performance reviews and career progression. Rather than serving as aspirational statements, these principles provide practical guidance for how employees make decisions, collaborate and build products that help businesses operate globally.
- The Operating Principles shape everyday decisions: Airwallex defines both the personal qualities it looks for and the behaviors it expects from employees. Team members are encouraged to be Visionary, Curious, Reliable, Determined, Resilient and Optimistic, while consistently demonstrating behaviors such as Prioritize Customers, Move Fast with Conviction, Champion Craftsmanship, Take Ownership, Never Settle and Optimize for Long-Term Value. These principles help create consistency across a rapidly growing global organization.
- Customer obsession drives the culture: Employees are encouraged to begin with customer problems and build solutions that create lasting value. This customer-first mindset influences product development, engineering priorities and commercial decision-making, helping teams remain focused on delivering better outcomes for businesses operating internationally.
- High standards are paired with continuous learning: Airwallex encourages employees to raise the bar while embracing feedback, experimentation and continuous improvement. Employees are expected to challenge assumptions, learn quickly from setbacks and continually improve their craft, reinforcing a culture where ambition is balanced by curiosity and resilience.
- Culture evolves alongside company growth: As Airwallex continues expanding internationally, leadership has invested in strengthening people programs, leadership capability, office communities and employee engagement while preserving the entrepreneurial mindset that helped build the business. This focus helps the company scale without losing the agility and ownership that define its culture.
- External signals:
- Culture & Values: Glassdoor reviews consistently describe Airwallex as a workplace that attracts ambitious, entrepreneurial employees who enjoy solving challenging problems in a collaborative environment. (Glassdoor)
- Leadership: Comparably employee feedback highlights confidence in leadership and the company's long-term vision. (Comparably)
- Employer recognition: Airwallex earned the 2025 Best Employer Award at the Asia FinTech Awards and was recognized on multiple Built In 2026 Best Places to Work lists. (Asia FinTech Awards; Built In)
Bottom line: Airwallex's culture is defined by a clear builder mindset, customer obsession and long-term thinking. Its Operating Principles provide employees with a consistent framework for making decisions, collaborating across global teams and continuously improving, creating a culture that supports both rapid execution and sustainable long-term growth.
Airwallex's Candidate Tradeoffs
If you’re weighing whether Airwallex is the right fit, these are the core tradeoffs to consider.
- Airwallex places greater emphasis on mission-driven work and meaningful impact than on prioritizing top-of-market compensation.
Airwallex Employee Perspectives
“We aren’t looking for people who can memorize algorithms; we’re looking for ‘AI pilots’ who can leverage these tools to build faster and smarter.”
"Everyone has their own strengths. You can learn something from everyone – from product knowledge to communication styles."
“Early in our journey, we were looking for people from finance or banks because we thought experience might equal capability. But what we’re building is new, fresh, and different. We actually look for people who are problem-oriented.”
She says process‑oriented people—often shaped by large, established companies—rarely fit our fast‑paced, ambiguous environment. They default to “how we’ve always done it,” while we need builders who start from the ground up.
Airwallex Employee Reviews
What People Are Saying About Airwallex
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Fair & Equitable Treatment: Pay and benefits are portrayed as competitive, with equity, mental‑health support via Modern Health, PTO, parental leave, and a 401(k) in the U.S. highlighted. Compensation is consistently positioned as a relative strength.
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Learning & Knowledge Sharing: Company materials emphasize rapid learning, clear progression frameworks, and programs like Elevate and Rise. Employer pages also tie development to a mission‑led context.
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Accountability & Ownership: A builder‑first ethos stresses ownership, speed, and visible impact across global teams. Employees are encouraged to take end‑to‑end responsibility and ship quickly.
Airwallex's Benefits
Employee feedback used to shape policies and strategy
Encourages autonomy and ownership from employees
Established employee awards to honor work and contributions
Managers give public shoutouts and celebrate employee milestones
Managers offer consistent feedback loops
Provides modern technology across teams
Provides resources to build team camaraderie
Quarterly stipend for team building activities
Quarterly engagement surveys to gauge employee satisfaction
Transparent sharing of company-wide eNPS scores
Flexibility provided during personal challenges
Has employee-led culture committees
Offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Offers company-sponsored happy hours
Offers company-sponsored outings
Offers team workouts
Running clubs, football teams
Offers wellness initiatives designed to combat burnout and mental fatigue
Offers wellness programs
USA: Modern Health: Supporting well-being & performance and EAP
Partners with nonprofits
By partnering with Pledge 1% to set aside 1 percent of Airwallex stock, currently valued at US$56M, the company has built a sustainable, durable model for ongoing corporate philanthropy.
Provides opportunities to volunteer in the local community
Beginning in 2025, all 1,700+ Airwallex employees will commit three days per year to volunteering – amounting to roughly 1 percent of employee time devoted to community service.
Provides recreational clubs
Airwallex run club, football and basketball teams
Works with employees to create a sustainable work pace
Defined policies promoting a professional, respectful workplace
Defined values and mission statements
Documented operating principles
We have 12 operating principles
Documented policies and procedures to protect employee privacy and data
Engineering team utilizes pair programming
Hosts in-person all-hands meetings
Hosts in-person revenue kickoff meetings
Implements team-based strategic planning
Leadership is transparent and communicative
Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities
Open office floor plan to encourage communication and collaboration
Prioritizes mission-driven work in decision-making processes
Prioritizes real-world impact of work in decision-making processes
Promotes a strong in-person office culture
Uses an OKR operational model to clearly define goals and priorities
Allows work from home occasionally
Established expectations for communication between time zones
In-office days / expectations are defined
Provides work from home flexibility
Utilizes a flexible work schedule
Utilizes a hybrid work model
