Harvard Business School’s eight-week Foundry bootcamp for entrepreneurs now includes AI avatars that deliver feedback during practice pitches and board meetings. The $699 program, developed with startup HeyGen, supplements weekly live sessions with instructors by using the avatars to simulate one-on-one critiques.
The AI avatars were initially conceived as chatbot-style tools, but student feedback pushed the project toward a more guided experience. Participants told *The New York Times* they prefer the avatars, despite some reservations about their realism. Flybridge Capital co-founder Jeff Bussgang, whose digital clone was used in a demo, called the avatar “a little creepy” but noted his students enjoy it.
Project director Katharina Rings said the avatars aim to scale personalized feedback as the bootcamp expands. The program’s next session begins in October, with early-bird pricing available until October 15.
