Nilesh Ashra

Wieden+Kennedy has always fostered experimentation. So it’s natural we would create something new to shake up the way creativity works with technology. And true to W+K form, we do it with proven agency talent in new roles they help define.

Nilesh Ashra, who joined W+K in 2012 to work on Nike, was tapped to co-run the Creative Technology & Experience Design group called The Lodge, one of the significant steps we’re taking to diversify creativity.

Armed with a degree in Artificial Intelligence, Nilesh has been instrumental in leading this creative team—growing it from 10 to 25 in short time, as they look to match the output and scale of W+K’s advertising business.

The Lodge applies technology to human problems via deep expertise in hardware engineering, computer graphics, experience design, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and more—all to further our unique brand of storytelling. It’s about bridging the gap between a brand’s purpose and their customer’s reality. And making useful technology that feels joyful and magic.

In the past year, Nilesh’s team has been busy inventing an interface that plays music with paper and pen, bringing the first smartphone to the world of Minecraft and redefining how consumers play and work with various technology.