Team Camp 2025: The Week That Strengthened Laloka Labs and Transformed Kafkai

Remote work is great, but nothing replaces sharing the same space, eating together, laughing, and finally putting real voices to the faces we see on screens all year. This year, our destination was Malacca, Malaysia, a city full of charm, history, and surprises. By the way Laloka Labs is a company behind Kafkai.

Leaving my motherland is always bittersweet. My journey took me through Ethiopia and Singapore before arriving in Malaysia. Long flights give you time to reflect, and somewhere over the Indian Ocean, I thought about how far our team has come and the responsibility we now carry, especially as Kafkai grows so fast.

Arriving in Malacca, all my travel fatigue decided to come out of its shell… well, almost. Jetlag had other plans. Namibia is 7 hours behind Malaysia, so for the first few days, my body felt completely confused. If my body were a mouth, it might have asked: “What’s happening? Are these normal Namibian sleeping hours or working hours?” 😅 Needless to say, I earned the unofficial title of the team’s “late arrival expert” until I finally caught up!

The team welcomed me warmly, the kind of welcome that makes you feel you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.

“Dinner that first night was full of laughter, catching up, and stories. Moments like these remind me why Laloka Labs is such a special place to work.”

Seeing the Bigger Picture

Throughout the week, we focused on understanding Kafkai, what we’ve built, where we want to take it, and the bigger picture beyond tickets, bugs, and daily tasks. Kafkai is used by people all over the world, each with different expectations. A business owner in the UK, a blogger in India, or a marketer in the US all use it differently.

We spent time with different teams to see their roles, workflows, and how their work connects to the bigger picture. Those “Ahh, that’s why!” moments came up constantly, realizing how your work impacts the platform deepens appreciation for every team member.

“While I can’t go too deep here because most discussions are internal, the main takeaway is clear: Kafkai’s growth depends on aligning people, product, and purpose.”

We also discussed Kafkai’s future. With so many tools emerging, our goal is to keep Kafkai focused on helping businesses grow strategically, not just producing content, but understanding SEO, competition, strategy and the marketing aspect of the business.

Learning and Skill Development

The week was packed with workshops, discussions, and hands-on sessions. One highlight was a Tailwind CSS session by Fathur Rahman, which was eye-opening even for those who don’t work on frontend regularly. The session didn’t just show how Tailwind works, it showed why it works, helping make frontend development cleaner and easier to manage.

Being connected to the open-source community, a key pillar of Laloka Labs, I also gained insight into how users interact with tools like Kafkai. Many are developers experimenting with code, contributing to libraries, or building projects with Django and other stacks. Seeing how our work aligns with their needs was very valuable.

On the marketing side, I learned how messaging, positioning, and understanding user behavior drive real impact. Since I represent Laloka Labs at conferences, meetups, and online spaces, these insights help me and the other team member communicate our products more clearly.

Leading the remote-worker side of the company, I noticed gaps that are easy to miss when working from a distance, miscommunications, unclear expectations, or differences in interpretation. Being together in Malacca allowed me to ask questions directly, get instant feedback, and understand how everyone works.

Kafkai Updates: Article Images

For those who aren’t familiar, Kafkai is a business intelligence and content platform that helps marketers, businesses, and writers create high-quality content efficiently. During our team camp, we rolled out new features and important updates for all Kafkai users.

One highlight is Article Images, a feature that automatically adds relevant, high-quality images to generated articles. With just one toggle, your content instantly becomes visually engaging and ready to publish. Great content isn’t just well-written; it’s also visually appealing, and Article Images is designed to make that happen seamlessly. Read the article by the C.E.O of laloka labs , Iqbal Abdullah, about the new update here

Malacca: A City That Felt Like a Storybook

Outside of meetings, Malacca was magical. The city blends Portuguese, Dutch, British, Malay, and Chinese influences. Narrow streets, historic buildings, busy night markets, and a river glowing at night, it felt like stepping into a storybook.

We tried local food, visited historical spots, and discovered small cafés where conversations about ideas and life continued. Some of the best discussions didn’t happen in meeting rooms, they happened while walking, eating, or sitting by the river.

“During a quiet walk, I realized how rare it is to work with people who are not only talented but genuinely kind. People who respect your ideas, support your growth, and make you feel like you belong.”

Moments We Captured

While workshops and strategy sessions were important, many of our best memories came from simple, everyday moments shared together. Muhammad Fathur Rahman, Nafis Ishraq, Iqbal Abdullah, Kamal Mustafa, Md Taufiqul Haque Khan, Tusar Hasan, and Muhtadi Noor Rafid were all part of these moments that made the camp unforgettable.

Engineers Turned “Camera Technicians”

At one point, the camera completely refused to cooperate. Suddenly, every engineer in the group became a “camera expert.” Adjusting the tripod, fixing angles, checking the brightness, everyone had an opinion. It was chaos, comedy, and teamwork all happening at once. But in the end, we got the photo!

The Delicious Food We Enjoyed- Malacca treated us well. Every meal was full of flavor, dishes we tried for the first time, desserts we couldn’t pronounce, but everything tasted incredible.

We also shared great meals together, visiting different restaurants, trying new dishes, and enjoying every moment as a team. Those shared meals created some of my favorite memories from the camp.

Why Team Camps Matter for Businesses

Team camps are more than company retreats, they’re investments in people, productivity, and long-term success. Our week in Malacca highlighted key lessons other companies, especially remote or hybrid teams, can learn:

1. Build Stronger Team Connections Meeting in person helps team members understand each other, build trust, and collaborate more effectively.

2. Align Everyone on Business Goals Team camps make sure everyone knows the company’s mission, roadmap, and priorities, reducing confusion and misalignment.

3. Break Down Silos Between Teams When teams learn how others work, communication improves and projects move more smoothly.

4. Encourage Innovation Brainstorming together sparks ideas and solutions that are harder to generate remotely.

5. Strengthen Culture and Motivation Shared experiences, recognition, and fun create loyalty, higher morale, and long-term engagement.

Heading Home With Gratitude

By the time I flew back to Namibia, I felt lighter, clearer, and inspired. Engineering isn’t just writing code, it’s about understanding people, solving real problems, and building tools that improve lives. Walking through a new city together reminded me that teamwork, trust, and shared experiences are just as important as technical skills.

Malacca gave us space to reconnect, refocus, and recharge. For me, it renewed my sense of purpose, reminding me why I do what I do: building meaningful products with people I respect. Next year, we’ll meet again somewhere in the world, but Malacca will always stand out, a week where work, people, and purpose came together perfectly.