In the third part of the iNNOVATE Tech Show Exhibitor Highlight series, we interviewed Laloka Labs Chief Executive Officer, Iqbal Abdullah.
1. Iqbal, LaLoka Labs builds software to help people save time, money and make them happier human beings. Tell us how you do this.
We do this by listening and trying to understand what our customers need, and solving them through our experience and technology. Over the years, having worked with many different types of customers and being users of technology ourselves, we understand that it’s
Iqbal Abdullah, CEO, Laloka Labs
too easy to get caught up with what a technology can do but instead miss on the very important part of how it will save us time, money and, finally, happier human beings.
Your teammates hail from different parts of the world and along with them, different work cultures. What’s the LaLoka work culture like?
Very flat, fast and lean. Titles are only as good as to outsiders to explain what your responsibilities are, but doesn’t mean much within our own organization. Ideas and execution are most valued. Everyone will have a chance to speak their mind and be taken seriously regardless of what they do or who they are. We focus on values because values transcends language and culture: What values can we offer our customers, and what values do we hold dear to ourselves
3. How do you assess Asia’s trajectory, and what does that mean for LaLoka Labs?
Asia has the biggest growth in terms of population and market size within our world. There are many things Asia needs to figure out as it grows, and these represent many opportunities for LaLoka Labs as needs and values evolve.
4. The buy-versus-build decision is a tough one, especially for non-tech companies. What do you see as a way to make the best decision?
If it’s a core part of your business, building and owning it will reap bigger rewards in the future, although it requires a bigger investment upfront. As an SME, speed is most important to us: If it’s something that can help us improve our top-line but is not critical to our business, we will buy. We’ll need to focus our strength on the ones that we build. This requires that we truly understand our business, and how we can help our customers through it.
5. SMEs are particularly more hesitant when it comes to adoption of new technology. What are some strategies for digital transformation efforts that can make it easier for them?
I have found that strategies that work well when it comes to technology adaptation most of the time don’t start with technology. For example, talking to other SME owners in different sectors who understand your language and issues will usually give a clearer direction on how to handle the confusion that will come when adopting a new technology. Focusing on the problem and how technology can help you solve that problem, instead of being caught up with the buzzwords and technology itself will also help.
6. What other technological innovations are on the horizon—and what do you expect this means for your company?
Specifically for our product Kafkai, we are seeing better AI methods to produce contents such as AlexaTM 20B by Amazon and AI image producing technologies such as Craiyon or DALL-E. Integrating these new technologies to make it easier and beneficial for our customers to use will definitely be a boost to usability and helps our Kafkai customers to save more time and more money.
But there are also more low-key innovations which might not be as exciting but might have more impact on our customers’ businesses, like 5G or better investments in internet infrastructure. As many more people start to get used to being online and working remotely, it will be more important for businesses to have an online presence, and simple tools or innovation to help these businesses do that will be something we will need to be able to offer our customers.
7. What will you be showcasing at the iNNOVATE Tech Show?
We’ll be showcasing Kafkai, our AI based content generation service. There’s a lot of discussion around AI writers lately, and we strongly believe that they are neither a threat nor the ultimate solution for writers. AI writing technology serves really well for facilitating the creation of contents, diminishing the grunting work from writing and leaving time for editorial processes. We’re really looking forward to showing the tech and talking with attendees about it.
LALOKA LABS WILL BE EXHIBITING AT THE INNOVATE TECH SHOW 2022 HELD AT MATRADE KUALA LUMPUR FROM 19-21 OCTOBER 2022 WHERE THE GLOBAL DRONE CONFERENCE IS CO-LOCATED.
IF YOU’RE IN A CONUNDRUM ABOUT HOW TO DIGITALISE YOUR BUSINESS, JOIN THE C-LEVEL ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE INDUSTRIAL USE OF AI & ROBOTICS IN ASIA ON 21 OCTOBER. REGISTER HERE FOR YOUR FREE PASS AND EVENT UPDATES.
