Harvard Business School uses AI teacher avatars in a US$699 founders' bootcamp

An eight-week HBS Foundry bootcamp combines weekly live sessions with teacher avatars created by HeyGen, which give personalised feedback during practice pitches and simulated board meetings. The fee is US$699. The offering was reported on August 22, 2026.

Why it matters: avatar coaching becomes a low-cost personalisation layer around live teaching, but it raises questions of disclosure, accuracy and teacher consent.

For organisations considering similar tools, the requirements are to label artificial teachers clearly, store assessment data minimally, provide escalation to a human, and measure learning outcomes rather than engagement alone.