Harvard's $699 HBS Foundry Bootcamp Adds AI Avatars of Real Instructors
Harvard Business School's startup bootcamp, Foundry, now uses AI avatars modeled on its own instructors to coach founders through practice pitches and mock board meetings. The program costs $699 and treats the AI avatars as a supplement to human mentorship rather than a replacement. It's a concrete example of AI moving from chatbot Q&A into structured, repeated skills training. What's happening According to TechCrunch, Harvard Business School's Foundry program has introduced AI avatars built to resemble and sound like its real instructors. Participants pay $699 to join, and during the bootcamp they interact with these avatars while rehearsing startup pitches and simulating board meetings. The avatars aren't simple text chatbots. They're designed to run through realistic scenarios — asking follow-up questions during a pitch, pushing back like a skeptical board member — and then give feedback on delivery and content. Context: why this is happening n...