Meet the directors behind CloudNala.

Lonwabo is the founder of CloudNala and a senior technology leader with more than 14 years of experience across cloud architecture, enterprise systems, application modernisation, data platforms, AI-enabled solutions and digital transformation.

He has worked across Microsoft, Rand Merchant Bank, DVT, Accenture Interactive, IQbusiness and CloudNala, supporting enterprise and public-sector-aligned technology initiatives. That background spans Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, .NET, APIs, DevOps, data architecture, AI advisory, enterprise architecture, ICT governance and stakeholder engagement — and it gives him a practical view of how enterprise technology decisions are actually made, funded, governed and delivered.

At CloudNala, Lonwabo leads solution architecture, cloud and AI advisory, digital delivery, proposal shaping, platform thinking and technical governance. His role is to help clients move from broad ideas or fragmented systems into clear solution options, delivery roadmaps and scalable platforms.

His work is grounded in a simple principle: technology must serve real business outcomes. CloudNala’s role is to help clients make better technology decisions, build useful platforms, govern digital change properly, and create solutions that can grow responsibly.

Much of that thinking is worked through in public. The CloudNala Insights library covers cloud strategy, AI governance, platform engineering and public-sector delivery — written in the same plain terms we use with clients.

Asavela is a marketing and communications professional with more than seven years of experience delivering integrated campaigns, brand activations, stakeholder communications, events and multi-channel marketing programmes across media, retail, telecommunications and entrepreneurial environments.

She is currently Marketing Manager at BetConstruct Africa in Johannesburg, where she develops and executes the annual marketing roadmap across African markets, aligns marketing activity to business priorities, local market dynamics and global brand standards, and leads the go-to-market strategy for new products and features. That work spans market-specific propositions, sales collateral and localised pitch decks, regional digital campaigns, LinkedIn and webinar lead-generation activity, industry event presence and brand activation, VIP and networking initiatives with operators and partners, competitor and market monitoring, marketing performance and ROI reporting, regulatory and data-protection compliance, and cross-functional collaboration with Global HQ, Business Development and Product.

Before that she was Senior Coordinator for Marketing Projects at Y (YFM) in Johannesburg, contributing to integrated marketing and communications strategies, maintaining message consistency across on-air, digital, event and stakeholder platforms, and preparing structured post-campaign reporting with recommendations. Earlier she was a Key Accounts Manager at Digiworx, running national campaign execution across all provinces, leading distributed field teams, and managing campaign budgets, supplier contracts and reconciliations.

Asavela also built and ran her own business, ILALI FOOD (Pty) Ltd in Mthatha, developing brand positioning, pricing responses and day-to-day operations — experience that gives her a direct feel for what small and growing South African businesses actually contend with. Earlier in her career she was a Marketing Coordinator at The Foschini Group in Cape Town, coordinating campaign production, brand activations and commercial content across retail, print and digital platforms.

She holds a National Diploma in Marketing from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and completed Project Management Fundamentals through ENJO Consultants. She works in isiXhosa, English and isiZulu.

As Director and Chief Marketing Officer, Asavela brings a commercial marketing and Africa market-development lens to CloudNala. Her experience spans go-to-market strategy, brand positioning, campaign execution, stakeholder engagement, digital marketing, event presence, client-facing marketing support and regional market growth. She helps shape how CloudNala communicates its value, builds trust with clients and partners, and translates technical capability into clear, market-relevant propositions.