Rockford AI for Business Meetup

​“Use AI” may be one of the most common pieces of business advice in 2026. But what does that actually mean? How do you implement it? What is useful, what is noise, and how are other professionals actually using it?

​The Rockford AI Business Meetup is a practical, peer-led gathering for local professionals who use, or want to use, AI to work more efficiently and better serve their teams and customers.

​There is no course, sales pitch, or upsell. The goal is to build a local brain trust where we can share what is working, learn from each other, and think differently about how AI can improve our work.

​Format

​3:30 PM | Welcome
3:30–3:50 PM | Presentation
3:50–4:10 PM | Roundtable 1
4:10–4:30 PM | Roundtable 2
4:30 PM onward | Optional Happy Hour

​Each meetup will begin with a short presentation on a beginner-to-intermediate topic that is practical and useful to most people in the room.

​From there, we’ll break into roundtables organized around three levels:

​Explore
Learn what’s possible, ask questions, and brainstorm where AI could help.

​Apply
Put AI to work on tasks, problems, and workflows.

​Build
Create tools, automations, agents, and systems.

​The idea is to spend one round where you are now, sharing what you know and helping others, then spend another round at the next level learning what is possible.

​We’re all here to get better and help others get better.

​Afterward, anyone who can stick around is welcome to join us for an optional happy hour to keep the conversation going and support Lino’s.