What happened
Harvard Business School is using AI avatars in its new startup bootcamp. The eight-week, $699 HBS Foundry programme features live sessions with human instructors but uses AI for individual feedback on practice pitches and board meetings. The avatars were created by a startup called HeyGen, as reported by TechCrunch AI. The project initially planned a simple chatbot, but students in a trial version asked for a more guided, interactive experience.
How the room's reading it
The reaction is a mix of intrigue and slight discomfort. A New York Times reporter who tested the system noted the avatar's 'noticeably frozen smile' during her pitch. This 'creepy' quality was even acknowledged by one of the instructors whose likeness was used — though he also said his students love it. The positive student feedback is notable, especially when many college students have been vocal about their dislike for AI in education. For builders in the ed-tech space, this signals that users might be more receptive to guided AI experiences than simple chatbots, a pivot HBS made after early trials.
Sailfish's take
We think the avatar is a distraction. The real story here isn't the digital puppet — it's the scalable practice loop. Any domain that requires high-stakes repetition, from sales calls to media training, is a fit for this model. We've seen teams try to build generic AI tutors and fail. Harvard's approach is smarter because it's specific. It provides a safe, repeatable space for practice without consuming expensive instructor time. We wouldn't be chasing photorealism. Instead, we'd be identifying other high-repetition training scenarios where a focused AI feedback agent offers more value than a general-purpose chatbot.