Databox CEO Peter Caputa recently posted that he is releasing a new video course taught entirely by his AI double. The avatar, powered by the popular AI video tool HeyGen, looks and sounds just like him, delivering hours of expert content on his behalf.
This move has sparked a major debate: Is this a brilliant time-saving strategy or a step too far away from authenticity? While Caputa notes that he wrote every word of the script based on his 25+ years of experience, the person on screen isn't him—it's a digital replica. And with HeyGen now valued at $500 million with over 40,000 business customers, the question more leaders will be forced to answer soon is:
Should you be making AI avatars of your executives?
To break it down, I talked it through with SmarterX and Marketing AI Institute founder and CEO Paul Roetzer on Episode 167 of The Artificial Intelligence Show.
Roetzer, who has known Caputa for 18 years, has a nuanced take. As someone who just spent hundreds of hours personally recording more than 20 courses for SmarterX’s AI Academy, his immediate reaction is that he couldn’t imagine using an avatar himself.
“For me, personal connection and authenticity are essential in communicating with my audiences,” he says. “I can't even fathom using an AI avatar in my place to teach a course.”
But, that doesn't mean he disagrees with Caputa's choice, and the strategy for him and his brand.
“It is a subjective decision. There isn't necessarily a right or wrong.”
Opinions on the subject are mixed, too. Caputa’s LinkedIn post on the topic drew tons of both negative and positive comments. Some praised the efficiency of using AI avatars, while others felt it created a disconnect.
This question is about to become way more pressing, says Roetzer. Because the technological limitations that once made AI avatars feel clunky and unnatural are vanishing. The slight imperfections in movement or tone (that “uncanny valley” feeling) are being smoothed out with each new software update.
Soon, telling the difference between a real video and an AI-generated one will be nearly impossible without access to the metadata.
“We're going to get to the point where you just don't know,” Roetzer says. “Videos in the very near future are going to just be indiscernible from reality.”
This is no longer a niche issue. Roetzer points to a recent video of the US president that went viral on social media because many viewers were convinced it was an AI avatar. As the technology becomes more seamless, the line between real and artificial will only get blurrier, forcing consumers and creators alike to question what they’re seeing.
The debate over AI avatars mirrors a broader conversation about where to draw the line with AI in content creation. Especially given that not all content requires the same level of human touch.
Roetzer compares it to a scale he developed for writers using AI during Marketing AI Institute's AI for Writers Summit 2025. For some tasks, like writing product descriptions or basic landing pages, there’s likely far less debate over whether or not to use AI.
“Who cares?” he says. “People just want the information.”
But for high-stakes, high-trust content like a keynote presentation or a personal editorial, it may get murkier, since audiences may expect the real person.
“When it's like a keynote presentation or an editorial piece, you want to know that that's coming from the person,” says Roetzer.
The same logic applies to AI avatars. While using one for a quick internal onboarding video might be acceptable, a paid course from a trusted expert carries different expectations. Ultimately, the decision comes down to understanding your audience.
“This isn’t prescriptive. It’s up to you to decide where that comfort level is,” says Roetzer. “If your audience expects you to show up and be authentically there, and to have put those extra two hours in to record the thing, you have to show up and do it.”
Caputa’s experiment isn’t a one-off curiosity. It’s a preview of a choice every brand and business leader will soon face. With avatar technology becoming more accessible and powerful, the temptation to save time and scale content production will be immense.
The core question isn't about the technology itself, but about the strategy behind it. It forces a conversation about what your brand values most: the efficiency of automation or the irreplaceable connection of human presence.
For Roetzer and his team, the answer is clear: they won’t be using AI avatars for their educational courses . But he stresses that every organization must have this conversation now.
“We are all going to have to choose how we use AI to create our content, our thought leadership, our expertise,” says Roetzer. “You are going to, as a brand or as an individual creator or leader, have the choice to deepfake the thing.”