The “We” in WeRobotics: Reflecting on Our 2026 Team Retreat

In February 2026, the WeRobotics team, currently spread out across nine countries,  came together in Pune, India, for two days of connection and reflection. We had last all been together in 2024 and so, of course, there was much to look forward to. The timing was especially significant. It presented the opportunity to be physically together as we celebrated 10 years of our organization and imagined what the next ones might hold. 

During the retreat, we each had a chance to share our highlights, our lowlights, what we thought we could do better, and what new possibilities we could explore moving forward. We listened to one another. We celebrated one another. We took stock of everything we have accomplished and learnt over the past decade. Importantly, we took the time to discuss what comes next for us. Change is always a little uncomfortable, and this made it all the more valuable that we could navigate the moment in person. It allowed us to support and affirm one another through our initial anxieties. Rather than screens we had sticky notes, sketches, and stories. The undistracted presence mattered.

What came out of our conversations had little to do with technology or projects. Instead, the themes surfaced repeatedly were our people, our relationships, our diversity, our kindness, our leadership, and the ways we work together. These qualities are not separate from our impact. In a world that often celebrates tangible outcomes above all else, WeRobotics has long understood that even more important than what we do is how we do it. Our people-first approach means creating space for the heart-led work that supports genuine human connection alongside the more cerebral work of strategy and planning.

One of the retreat's most memorable exercises invited each team member to paint a picture — literally, on sheets of paper and using markers — of where WeRobotics might be a few years from now. What we came up with reflected the extraordinary diversity of perspectives within our team. As many different metaphors emerged as there are people in our team: a port, a machine, a greenhouse, a nuclear family, a traditional African village, a butterfly undergoing metamorphosis, a mangrove, a mycelial ecosystem, a garden, a conference. And despite the variety, they all pointed towards a similar vision. In every image, WeRobotics existed as part of a larger, thriving ecosystem. None of the pictures placed the organization at the center of the story. Instead, they highlighted relationships, interconnectedness, growth, exchange, and collective flourishing. It was an incredible reminder that our identity has never been about acting alone. 

The retreat also reminded us that it matters that our work creates joy. And it does that because we lead with relationships. There is joy in working alongside people who care for one another. There is joy in collaborative creativity. Where people feel seen and valued, joy is inevitable. We find it in our collaborations with the Flying Labs Network, with funders and partners, with our board, and within our own team. It is not an outcome that easily shows up on any report or dashboard, but it makes everything else possible.

For most of us, India was a new place. Travel has a way of pulling vulnerability out of us. Being in a new environment, hearing a new language, getting surprised by new foods (and levels of spice hitherto unknown to you), witnessing new customs — all of it takes us out of  the familiar and asks us to risk being “lost” together. It can be uncomfortable, but it also creates opportunities for deeper connection because now you have to open up in order to be supported where your resources alone are insufficient. Looking back now, the trip itself serves as an amusing metaphor for our way of being and working. 

As WeRobotics settles into our new mission, we carry forward many lessons from our first 10 years. Among the most important is the understanding that before systems, innovation, and strategy, there are relationships, trust, and connection. This year’s retreat reminded us that this is where our strength lives. After all, WeRobotics has always been more about the “we” than the “robotics”.