MAM
Dentsu Webchutney wants ad moms back to work
Mumbai: Dentsu Webchutney, the digital-led creative agency from the house of dentsu India, has launched a new talent development program- The Ad Fellows Returnship. It is a 30-day back-to-work program for moms created in partnership with Indian Creative Women, an independent forum working towards furthering diversity in creative teams across the Indian advertising & design industry.
For the record, the virtual learning program will begin on 1 July 2021 and applications are open from 1 June 2021 till 10 June 2021.
The ad fellows outreach is Dentsu Webchutney’s way to open up roles in advertising for people who ordinarily think they cannot make it in the industry. In its new version, the program is open to creative moms who have been part of the industry previously and are looking for a way to make a comeback. Those selected will undergo a month-long learning experience to ease their way back into the field. Throughout the month, they will be paired with creative specialists at Dentsu Webchutney and the Indian Creative Women network to equip thems with what they need to be industry-ready again.
Given that the very nature of marketing services is changing, the agency has collaborated with Indian Creative Women to develop a new syllabus along with teaching techniques for the program, with modules on confidence building and digital creative. The program itself is completely free and those interested can apply through the form available here.
Dentsu Webchutney team said, “We believe in the power of perspectives to make ideas stronger. Diversity in talent will always lead to more diverse work and following up on our success in making advertising open for everyone from Gen Z, to internet obsessives, to people in other industries, we’re excited to take this next step and welcome moms to Dentsu Webchutney. The program has been chartered by a passionate woman-strong team that believes more mothers need to put their lived experiences on the table. We’ve certainly got a long way to go ourselves but we’re very proud to partner with Indian Creative Women and take this much overdue step forward.”
The team of Indian Creative Women added, “Women face several systemic and structural challenges that get in the way of them growing into senior leadership roles. Our industry isn’t doing enough to retain them, specifically mothers. A woman is still blamed if she quits the industry after becoming a mother. There’s simply no organizational support for her to succeed. Dentsu Webchutney’s The Ad Fellows Returnship is a small step in the right direction and should be a great example of what other agencies can follow. This program is hugely influenced by Harshada Thakurdesai, a creative mom and Group Creative Director from Team Indian Creative Women.”
It is pertinent to note here that The Ad Fellows Returnship marks yet another instance of Dentsu Webchutney pushing the boundaries with its talent programs and industry-specific courses. In 2020, it was a virtual internship from home for 50 people. In 2019, The Ad Fellows made advertising a career option for chartered accountants and IT professionals, and in 2018, Pause the Resume hired internet natives out of nothing but their browser history. And now, moms can apply for The Ad Fellow Returnship right here.
MUMBAI: Apple just folded a photonics startup into its empire because when you’re building the future of light, sometimes you need to acquire the blueprint. Apple has quietly acquired key assets from invrs.io, a small AI-focused photonics startup, and brought its founder and sole employee, Martin Schubert, on board, according to a regulatory filing submitted to the European Union in October 2025.
The filing reveals that Apple would take over certain assets from invrs.io while hiring Schubert, a research scientist with prior stints at Meta, Google, and Micron Technology, where he worked on advanced display, semiconductor, and optical technologies.
Invrs.io specialised in open-source frameworks for photonics research, the science of controlling and manipulating light, critical to cameras, sensors, LiDAR, and displays across Apple’s ecosystem. The startup’s tools used AI-guided design to accelerate optical system simulation, optimisation, and benchmarking, aiming to make complex engineering more accessible to AI researchers and hardware developers.
Apple has not disclosed specific plans for integrating the technology, but the acquisition points to deeper ambitions in hardware-level AI. Enhanced light-based modelling could refine camera performance in iPhones and iPads, boost sensor accuracy in wearables, optimise spatial computing in Vision Pro, and advance next-generation displays and LiDAR systems.
Though modest compared with Apple’s blockbuster deals, the move underscores the company’s push to embed AI not just in software but in the physical foundations of its devices. As custom silicon and on-device AI accelerate, photonics expertise at the intersection of light and intelligence could prove a key differentiator.
For a company that once revolutionised screens with Retina displays, quietly snapping up a photonics innovator feels like the next logical step ensuring the light inside Apple’s world shines brighter, sharper, and smarter than ever.
