The Lodge
A remodeled lakefront log lodge with 15 bedrooms, stone fireplaces, vaulted great rooms and a massive deck looking straight down the lake.
Speaking & Events
3rd AnnualTuesday, September 14, 2027
AI Business Retreat 2027
A private lakefront estate. One working day. AI built on your own business.
For our third year we are taking over Long Lake Shores Estate, 35 private acres and 850 feet of shoreline in Stone Lake, Wisconsin. Hands-on sessions for construction, manufacturing and every business that runs on estimates, proposals, spreadsheets and follow-up.
When
Sept 14, 2027
Tuesday
Where
Stone Lake, WI
Long Lake Shores Estate
Faculty
4 confirmed
Rod, Aaron, Tim & Jer
Countdown
334 days
until the doors open
Three years running
From a first experiment to an annual tradition
Every year the same rule: no toy demos. You work on data shaped like your own business, and you leave with something that runs and a plan to keep it running.
- 20251st annual
Where it started
The first Coulee Tech AI Business Retreat, and the start of an annual tradition: business owners and leaders stepping away for a day to work out what AI should actually do inside their companies.
- 20262nd annual
The Island, Spooner, WI
A full working day on a lakeside lodge: 20 hands-on sessions across three parallel tracks, every one of them run on real business data instead of toy demos.
- 20 sessions, 3 tracks: Leadership, Sales & Marketing, Builder
- 6 instructors, each session pinned to an AIBMM level
- Prompt & Pour at the fire pit the night before
- Everyone left with a written 90-day roadmap
- 20273rd annual
Long Lake Shores Estate, Stone Lake, WI
New venue, same promise: build on your own data, leave with something that works and a plan you can defend. A private 35-acre lakefront estate, all to ourselves for the day.
- Tuesday, September 14, 2027
- Featured topics for construction, manufacturing and services
- Confirmed faculty: Rod, Aaron, Tim and Jer Holum
Want to see what a full day looks like? Browse the complete 2026 agenda, all 20 sessions.
The venue
Long Lake Shores Estate
A luxury Northwoods estate on Long Lake: a log lodge, a guesthouse and a clubhouse on 35 private acres, with the whole property ours for the day. Learn in the great room, work at the long tables on the deck, and take the hard conversations down to the dock.
35
private acres
Wooded paths, open lawns and a creek, all on one property.
850 ft
of shoreline
Private frontage on Long Lake, with a large dock, kayaks and paddle boards.
18
seat theater
Power recliners and a 135 inch screen in the Clubhouse.
80+
seats outdoors
A 3,000+ sq ft lakeside deck with a pizza oven, grill and fire ring.
24
bedrooms
Across The Lodge and The Guesthouse. The estate sleeps up to 110.
2 mi
of trails
Plus an 18-hole disc golf course weaving through the trees.
The Clubhouse
Part theater, part game room: an 18-seat theater with a 135 inch screen, a kitchenette with a pizza oven, and a second-floor lounge.
The Guesthouse
Nine more bedrooms over four levels, most with their own bath, a short walk from The Lodge and every shared space.
Photos courtesy of Classy Rustic Rentals.
“Work on real business data, not toy demos.”
The rule every session followed in 2026, and the one we are bringing to Stone Lake.
What we'll talk about
AI for the way your business actually works
The agenda builds on what worked in 2026, with more room for construction and manufacturing. Full sessions are announced with registration. Here is the ground we will cover.
Construction & the trades
Owners, estimators and project managers
- Pull counts, lengths and areas off a plan set with AI, then check them like an estimator
- Research the bid and decide go or no-go on fit, capacity and margin
- Rewrite proposals around the customer's problem instead of an equipment list
- Turn job-site photos into video and a month of social posts
Taught in 2026
Manufacturing & operations
Plant managers, operations leads and owners
- Put plain-English questions in front of an old ERP without waiting on the vendor
- Build a one-screen cockpit for cash, backlog, jobs and people
- Automate the exports and Friday reports nobody wants to re-key
- Where AI meets physical processes and equipment (AIBMM level 5)
Taught in 2026
Leadership & strategy
CEOs, owners and senior leaders
- ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok: what each is good at and where your data goes
- Confidentiality, liability and insurance questions answered straight
- Hire your first AI employee with one clear job
- Score your AI maturity and leave with a written 90-day roadmap
Taught in 2026
Sales & marketing
Sales leaders, marketers and office managers
- Get recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants (GEO)
- A follow-up system where AI drafts and a person approves
- AI-personalized direct mail, one postcard per prospect
- A 90-day marketing calendar one person can actually run
Taught in 2026
Builders & technical staff
Developers, IT and the person who always gets handed the spreadsheet
- Claude Code from real data to a live dashboard
- Wire AI into your apps, inbox and databases with MCP
- Connect read-only first: scopes, guardrails and audit trails
- Bring your worst workflow for a live teardown
Taught in 2026
Every business, every department
Whatever you build or sell, these run through your week. We will show where AI fits in each.
Estimating & bidsProposals & quotesERP & accounting dataDashboards & reportingLead follow-upCustomer serviceHiring & HRScheduling & dispatchMarketing & socialSecurity & data policy
Confirmed speakers
Your instructors for 2027
The people who run Coulee Tech's AI work day to day, teaching what they build and use.
Rod Holum
CEO & Founder, Coulee Tech
Host. Leadership, AI strategy and the 90-day roadmap.
Full profile
Aaron Libner
President, Coulee Tech, Eau Claire Market
Sales, marketing, and bidding for construction and the trades.
Full profileTH
Tim Holum
Software Developer & Co-Founder, Coulee Tech
The Builder track: agents, integrations and live builds.
Full profileJH
Jer Holum
AI Coach, Coulee Tech · Founder, Web Devy
Follow-up systems and AI-native workflows.
Full profile
Getting there
Northwest Wisconsin lake country
Long Lake Shores EstateN3377 Curtis Rd
Stone Lake, WI 54876
- About 2 hours 15 minutes from the Minneapolis airport
- Paved on-site parking for 20+ vehicles
- Downtown Stone Lake: coffee, shops and a mercantile nearby
AI Business Retreat 2027: questions
Tuesday, September 14, 2027, at Long Lake Shores Estate, N3377 Curtis Rd, Stone Lake, Wisconsin 54876: a private 35-acre estate with 850 feet of shoreline on Long Lake.
Confirmed faculty are Rod Holum (CEO and founder of Coulee Tech), Aaron Libner (president of Coulee Tech's Eau Claire market), Tim Holum (software developer and co-founder of Coulee Tech) and Jer Holum (AI coach at Coulee Tech). More instructors may be added as the agenda comes together.
Similar ground to 2026, organized around the work real companies do: construction takeoffs and bidding, manufacturing and ERP data, owner dashboards, proposals, lead follow-up, marketing and getting found by AI assistants, plus a hands-on track for technical staff. Every session runs on real business data, and you leave with a scored AI maturity level and a written 90-day plan.
Yes. Coulee Tech held its first AI Business Retreat in 2025 and its second on September 15, 2026 at The Island in Spooner, Wisconsin, with 20 hands-on sessions across three tracks. 2027 is the third annual retreat.
No. Most sessions are written for owners, managers and operators with no coding background. The builder track is there for the technical people on your team who want to go deeper.
Pricing and registration open in 2027. Join the early list on this page and you will hear first, before seats are offered publicly.
Stone Lake is in northwest Wisconsin lake country. The property's own listing puts it about 2 hours and 15 minutes from the Minneapolis airport.