Why AI Can't Replace Marketing Strategy — with LinkedIn's Robin O'Connell

Robin O'Connell spends his days inside LinkedIn's marketing and advertising team in Australia, working with founders and brands on content strategy — which makes him a rare voice on where AI genuinely helps marketers, and where it still falls flat. In this episode he makes the case that "the smartest move for any marketer right now is trying to replace parts of your own job with AI, just to find out fast what it can't do." His answer: strategy. AI can automate tactics at scale, but it still can't replace the judgement that comes from genuinely understanding a customer.

Georgie and Robin get into how brands actually stand out on LinkedIn (hint: it's not by looking like Apple), why comments and DMs are a better growth signal than impressions, and how to tell when AI-written content is quietly killing your credibility.

The standout story is personal: Robin's dad Dennis, a serial entrepreneur in Dublin who lost his retail business during COVID, now runs a landscaping venture — and uses AI image generation on an iPad to show clients exactly what their garden will look like before a single spade hits the ground. It's one of the clearest, most human examples of AI actually changing how someone runs a small business.