Harvard launches $699 AI bootcamp with instructor avatars

Aug 22, 2026

Harvard Business School launches HBS Foundry, an eight-week, $699 online entrepreneurship bootcamp featuring AI instructor avatars. Developed by startup HeyGen, these digital clones, including one of lecturer Jeff Bussgang, provide automated feedback during simulated pitches and board meetings. While some find the technology creepy, student feedback is highly positive, and the program has already been tested across more than 100 universities.

HBS Foundry bootcamp launch

▪Harvard Business School tested the $699 HBS Foundry bootcamp with more than 100 universities across 50 states prior to its August 2026 launch
▪The HBS Foundry bootcamp features weekly live sessions led by experienced founders, investors, and Harvard Business School faculty alongside online AI resources
▪Harvard Business School launched an eight-week online entrepreneurship bootcamp called HBS Foundry, priced at $699, to guide participants through starting a company

AI avatar instructor technology

▪Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jeff Bussgang is one of several faculty members who volunteered to create AI clones of themselves for the HBS Foundry bootcamp
▪The HBS Foundry bootcamp utilizes AI avatars of Harvard Business School instructors to provide individual feedback to students during practice sessions
▪Project director Katharina Rings initially planned the AI component of the HBS Foundry bootcamp as a chatbot before students requested a more guided experience

Student feedback on avatars

▪Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jeff Bussgang acknowledged his digital AI clone is a little creepy but stated that his students love the technology
▪While some college students have expressed negative feelings toward AI, participants in the HBS Foundry bootcamp reported that they like the instructor avatars

Practice pitch simulations

▪The HBS Foundry virtual workspace includes video call simulations for students to practice pitches, sales calls, and board meetings with instructor AI avatars
▪New York Times reporter Sarah Kessler tested the HBS Foundry simulation by pitching a business plan to an AI avatar of Flybridge Capital co-founder Jeff Bussgang

HeyGen avatar creation

▪The AI instructor avatars featured in the eight-week HBS Foundry entrepreneurship bootcamp were created by the technology startup HeyGen
▪Startup HeyGen developed the video avatars to allow Harvard Business School instructors to provide automated feedback to students during practice pitches