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Harvard Business School Debuts AI Coaching Program

Harvard Business School recently launched a virtual accelerator program titled HBS Foundry. The eight-week online course gives entrepreneurs direct access to artificial intelligence versions of actual faculty members. Founders pay $699 to participate in the program. This technology acts as a digital advisor for business planning and investor relations.

Jeff Bussgang, a senior lecturer at Harvard and co-founder of Flybridge Capital, serves as one of the faculty members with a digital clone. He noted that students find the tool valuable for their development. The initiative aims to provide high-quality mentorship to founders regardless of their physical location or institutional access.

Practical Applications for Startup Founders

The program focuses on specific, actionable skills. Participants use their AI counterparts to refine business models, rehearse high-stakes pitches, and simulate difficult customer conversations. The goal is to prepare entrepreneurs for real-world encounters by providing a controlled environment for practice.

Dragana Savic, the founder of INIA Biosciences, used the program after securing over $1 million in venture funding. Her company develops medical devices for autoimmune conditions. She stated that the ability to hash out strategic decisions with an avatar provides a distinct advantage before entering formal high-stakes environments.

Pranav Sultania, a Ph.D. candidate at Boston University, also used the system to prepare for his venture into electromagnetic propulsion systems. He credited the avatars with helping him tighten his technical pitch for investors. The system is currently being used across more than 100 universities in all 50 U.S. states.

Scaling Education Through Technology

Harvard officials designed this platform to expand the reach of entrepreneurial education. Traditional business school curricula are often constrained by campus capacity and in-person attendance requirements. HBS Foundry removes these barriers by digitizing the expertise of the school’s instructors.

This trend toward AI-augmented education suggests a shift in how professional development is delivered. As the program continues to collect data, other universities may look to replicate this model. The success of these digital clones indicates that founders are increasingly comfortable relying on synthetic intelligence for operational guidance.

Future versions of this program could incorporate more specialized modules as the technology matures. The broader impact will likely change how universities market their expertise to the global business community. It also sets a new benchmark for how elite institutions provide value in an era of rapid technological change.