Kitchen Side: Can vs Should in Automation

Listen to the Podcast

In this Kitchen Side episode of The Long Game Podcast, the Omniscient Digital team reflects on one key question: “What should we automate?” The discussion unfolds into a broader examination of agency culture, strategic thinking, and the nuanced costs of automation. They share personal experiments—from HARO email parsing to multi-agent PR systems—and debate the tradeoffs between saving time and losing essential context, mentorship, and learning. The team also explores how AI tools can be both empowering and distracting, and why automation shouldn’t come at the expense of human development, team connection, or communication that builds trust. It’s a thoughtful, candid look at what AI can’t (and shouldn’t) replace.

Key Takeaways

• Automation Isn’t All or Nothing: Not everything needs full automation—sometimes it’s just about streamlining small, repeatable parts of a process.
• Human Touchpoints Still Matter: Automated communication can lack the warmth, accountability, and nuance of a genuine human message.
• AI Can Undermine Learning Opportunities: Over-automation risks removing hands-on work that builds junior talent and deep strategic expertise.
• Remote Culture Needs In-Person Balance: Offsites help rebuild alignment, context, and emotional connection that remote work alone can’t deliver.
• Effort Signals Care: Taking the “harder” route—whether writing by hand or reviewing raw data—can demonstrate thoughtfulness and create deeper understanding.
• Small Talk Has Strategic Value: Informal conversation often reveals insights and context that structured meetings miss.
• AI Is Best as an Assistant, Not a Replacement: Tools like Fireflies or ChatGPT are useful for transcription and ideation, but real clarity comes from processing ideas manually.

Show Links

• Connect with David Khim on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Connect with Alex Birkett on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Connect with Allie Decker on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Connect with Omniscient Digital on LinkedIn or Twitter

Time stamps

• [00:00] Intro: “What should we automate?”—the core question
• [06:30] Automating HARO and digital PR: when it’s worth the time
• [13:45] Multi-agent workflows and the limits of AI infrastructure
• [21:00] Balancing junior training with automation in strategy work
• [29:10] Personal workflows: Fireflies, note-taking, and hybrid systems
• [36:50] The problem with automating human communication
• [44:15] AI and content understanding vs. superficial summarization
• [51:30] The value of rereading, grappling with dense ideas, and discomfort
• [58:20] The offsite effect: rebuilding trust, clarity, and alignment
• [01:06:10] Communication, misinterpretation, and the need for nuance
• [01:13:00] Information overload vs. focus: what should you really know?