Harvard Business School's $699 AI Bootcamp: When Your Instructor Is a Digital Double

As Harvard Business School seeks to expand its reach, it's leaning on AI avatars to provide individual feedback. These avatars were created by a startup called HeyGen and are included in the eight-week, $699 HBS Foundry bootcamp for entrepreneurs. The program offers live sessions with instructors every week, but the AI avatars are the ones providing feedback during practice pitches and board meetings.

The initiative represents a significant step in the integration of generative AI into higher education, and it's a move that could reshape how business schools and other institutions deliver personalized instruction at scale.

The HBS Foundry bootcamp is designed for entrepreneurs who want to refine their business ideas and pitch skills. The program combines weekly live sessions with instructors taught by real humans with AI-driven feedback delivered through digital avatars created by HeyGen, a startup that specializes in generating realistic AI avatars from video footage.

The avatars are modeled after real HBS instructors, including Flybridge Capital co-founder Jeff Bussgang. During practice pitches and simulated board meetings, participants present their ideas to these digital doubles, which then provide feedback on everything from presentation style to the substance of the pitch.

New York Times reporter Sarah Kessler actually tried this out herself by pitching an AI-generated copy of Bussgang. Apparently, both the real Bussgang and his simulacra were unimpressed by her plan to build "Uber for bananas," but Kessler said the virtual version offered a noticeably frozen smile during her pitch. The frozen smile is a telling detail, a reminder that even the most advanced AI avatars can still fall into the uncanny valley.

From Chatbot to Avatar: A Design Evolution

Project director Katharina Rings said she initially envisioned the AI component as something closer to a chatbot. However, after HBS released a trial version, students said they wanted a more guided experience. The shift to avatars was a direct response to that feedback: students didn't just want a text-based interface; they wanted a more immersive, human-like interaction.

The avatars also address a practical challenge. With only so many instructors available to provide one-on-one feedback, the AI doubles allow the program to scale personalized instruction to a much larger cohort of students. Instead of waiting for a busy professor to review a pitch, participants can practice as many times as they want and receive immediate, consistent feedback from the avatar.

Student Reactions: Surprisingly Positive

While some college students haven't been shy about expressing their negative feelings towards AI, Foundry participants told Kessler they like the avatars. The positive reception is notable given the skepticism many students have expressed about the role of AI in education. Some have worried that AI tools could replace human instructors or lead to a more impersonal learning experience.

But in this case, students seem to appreciate the avatars as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, the real thing. The avatars provide practice opportunities and feedback in a low-stakes environment, freeing up live sessions for more meaningful, high-level discussions.

As for Bussgang, he acknowledged his digital copy is a little "creepy," but he said, "My students love it." The comment captures the dual nature of the technology: there's something undeniably unsettling about being critiqued by a digital replica of a real person, but the utility outweighs the weirdness for many users.

Implications for the Future of Education

The HBS Foundry bootcamp is part of a broader trend in higher education: the use of AI to deliver personalized, scalable instruction. From AI tutors that provide real-time feedback to predictive analytics that help instructors identify struggling students, the technology is increasingly being woven into the fabric of teaching and learning.

But the avatar approach takes this a step further by introducing a visual and interactive dimension to AI-driven feedback. Instead of reading a written critique, participants are engaging with a lifelike avatar that can convey tone, expression, and body language or at least a reasonable approximation of them.

The success of the Foundry bootcamp could pave the way for similar programs at other business schools and institutions. It could also spark a debate about the role of AI in education and the line between human and machine instruction.

As Harvard Business School continues to experiment with AI avatars, questions remain about the long-term impact on teaching and learning. Will AI avatars eventually replace human instructors in some contexts? Or will they remain a supplement, used primarily for practice and feedback?

For now, the Foundry bootcamp represents a promising experiment one that could expand access to world-class business education while maintaining the quality and personalization that students expect. Whether the approach gains wider acceptance will depend on how well it delivers on its promises and how comfortable students and educators become with the idea of learning from a digital double.