Harvard Business School has integrated AI avatars into its eight-week Foundry bootcamp, charging $699 for the course. The program includes weekly live sessions with instructors, yet students receive feedback on practice pitches and board meetings from digital clones created by the startup HeyGen. Reporter Sarah Kessler tested the system by pitching an AI copy of Flybridge Capital co-founder Jeff Bussgang. Both the real investor and his digital twin rejected her plan to build an Uber for bananas, though Kessler noted the virtual version displayed a noticeably frozen smile during the interaction.
Project director Katharina Rings originally intended the tool to function as a standard chatbot, but student demand shifted the focus toward a more guided experience. While some university students express strong reservations about artificial intelligence, participants in the Foundry programme reported liking the avatars. Jeff Bussgang admitted his digital likeness feels slightly creepy, yet he confirmed that his students enjoy the feedback loop. The approach allows the school to maintain high-touch mentoring while scaling interactions through synthetic personas.
- The avatars are powered by HeyGen technology.
- Feedback occurs during practice pitches and board meetings.
- Students prefer the guided experience over a simple chatbot.
