The CEO Retreat
April 9–10, 2026
The CEO Retreat will take place at Maple Ranch in Amoret, MO — a beautiful private property south of Kansas City featuring exceptional accommodations, outdoor amenities, and scenic grounds for sessions and activities.
What
Unlock unparalleled insights and connect with fellow Kansas City tech leaders while enjoying world-class accommodations, with all-inclusive meals, drinks, and activities at your fingertips.
The CEO Retreat, presented by RSM US LLP, is KC Tech Council’s most anticipated gathering — designed for candid conversations and real perspective among the region’s top tech executives.
This year’s theme focuses on growth acceleration for tech leaders across leadership, operations, and strategy. Sessions will explore how CEOs are integrating AI into their own decision-making, the workforce shifts leaders must be preparing for, why Kansas City remains a compelling market to found, scale, and relocate tech companies, and what the 2026–2027 economic outlook means for growth-oriented organizations. The agenda also builds in dedicated time for meaningful peer connection — fostering honest conversations, strategic clarity, and lasting executive relationships.
Local leaders come together to learn from industry influencers, network with fellow CEOs and of course, retreat. This retreat is designed with Kansas City CEOs in mind. The KC Tech Council brings together high-level speakers and unique programming that attendees wouldn’t experience otherwise. In addition to well-curated programming, the retreat itself is exclusive in every sense of the word. Attendees must be a CEO or highest-ranking local official. The venue is located at a beautiful ranch south of Kansas City, offering a wide range of amenities. Nature trails, fishing and shooting ranges are all at the guest’s disposal.
Interested in sponsoring The CEO Retreat? Contact Erin Christensen.
Speakers
We’re excited to feature an outstanding lineup of leaders from across the tech and innovation ecosystem. Additional speakers will be announced soon as we continue to build out the program.
Kansas City National Security Campus, Managed by Honeywell FM&T
Programming
Programming for the 2026 CEO Retreat is actively taking shape. Sessions below are confirmed and reflect the strategic depth and executive focus you can expect.
Designing a Workforce that Works
The workforce expectations shaping tomorrow’s companies are already here. Leaders today face growing competition for senior talent, shifting employee expectations around transparency and growth, and increasing questions about how AI will reshape roles and careers.
This session explores how organizations can build workforce strategies that attract, engage, and retain high-performing teams in a rapidly evolving environment. From communication and career development to navigating the intersection of talent and AI, the conversation will focus on what leaders must do differently to create organizations where people want to stay and grow.
Operationalizing AI Starts With The CEO
AI doesn’t transform companies, leaders do. This session reframes AI adoption not as a technology strategy, but as a leadership discipline. What are you, personally, doing each day to embed AI into decision-making, operating rhythms, and growth? How do you use AI as an executive advantage without isolating yourself or siloing your organization? This conversation focuses on the CEO’s role in operationalizing AI, through behavior, structure, and influence, so it grows you as a leader, not just your tech stack.
Built To Win – Why The Smartest Companies are Betting on Kansas City
A panel discussion on why companies have chosen Kansas City to scale, grow, and relocate, and how executive leaders can translate regional momentum into competitive advantage for their own organizations. Beyond highlighting Kansas City’s emergence as a rising technology hub, the conversation will focus on the strategic factors CEOs can leverage — including talent, infrastructure, partnerships, and ecosystem alignment — to accelerate business growth.
Tech and the Global Economy: Potential Influence
An executive-level economic outlook for technology leaders looking ahead through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027. This session explores capital markets, geopolitical dynamics, and macroeconomic trends shaping the operating environment.
Leadership at Scale: What Must Change as You Grow
As organizations scale, leadership cannot remain static. What works at 20 employees breaks at 200. What works at 200 breaks at 2,000. This CEO-to-CEO conversation explores how leadership must evolve as complexity increases – what decisions must shift, what control must be relinquished, and how a founder or early-stage executive adapts to leading through layers, systems, and structure. This session offers perspective from the helm of a large, complex enterprise, and practical insight on how to prepare your leadership style for the next stage of growth.
When
Thursday, April 9th – Friday April 10th, 2026
Where
The retreat will take place at Maple Ranch, a beautiful private property south of Kansas City, offering a wide range of amenities and top-notch accommodations. Nature trails, fishing and shooting ranges are all at the guest’s disposal.