Harvard’s $699 startup bootcamp offers AI avatars of its instructors

Harvard Business School (HBS) is pushing the boundaries of digital education by integrating AI-driven avatars into its HBS Foundry program. This eight-week, $699 entrepreneurship bootcamp utilizes technology from the startup HeyGen to provide students with personalized, scalable feedback.

Scaling Feedback Through Digital Twins

While the program maintains weekly live sessions with human instructors, the AI avatars take center stage during high-pressure exercises, such as practice pitches and simulated board meetings. By digitizing faculty members, HBS aims to offer individual guidance that would be logistically impossible to provide manually for every participant.

The "Uber for Bananas" Test

New York Times reporter Sarah Kessler recently put the system to the test, pitching a mock business idea—an "Uber for bananas"—to a digital replica of Flybridge Capital co-founder Jeff Bussgang.

"My students love it," noted Bussgang, who admitted that while his digital twin can be a bit "creepy" and prone to a frozen smile, the utility for students remains high.

Evolution of the AI Experience

Project director Katharina Rings noted that the integration evolved based on direct student feedback. Initially, the team considered a standard chatbot interface, but participants requested a more structured, guided experience. Despite the skepticism often found on college campuses regarding AI, Foundry students have responded positively to the avatars, finding them to be a valuable tool for refining their entrepreneurial skills in a low-stakes, virtual environment.