As the job market tightens, LinkedIn has become the battleground for anyone trying to stand out.
This corner of the internet has its own vernacular—where even a marriage proposal can be a lesson on B2B sales—and now a new tool has arrived to help LinkedIn visitors and would-be though leaders speak the language.
Launched by the Palo Alto-based search engine company Kagi, the translator tool, visually similar to Google Translate, offers a feature to translate any phrase or sentence into what it’s calling “LinkedIn Speak.”
For instance, when I inputted the phrase “I’m writing a story about this translator for Fast Company,” the platform blurted out corporate-sounding prose filled with LinkedIn jargon. And yes, it even threw some emojis and hashtags into the mix:
“🚀 Thrilled to share that I’m currently crafting a deep-dive feature for Fast Company on the future of translation technology! ✍️✨
It’s been an incredible journey exploring how this game-changing translator is redefining global communication. Stay tuned for more insights on how we’re breaking down barriers in the digital age! 🌍📈 #Innovation #TechTrends #FastCompany #TranslationTech #GlobalBusiness #Storytelling,” the translator wrote.”
Anyone scrolling on LinkedIn has seen it posts just like this, with users sharing in-depth announcements or analyses of the seemingly mundane, often sounding more like Oscar acceptance speeches than mere career updates.
As ridiculously accurate as the responses are, it comes to no surprise that the tool has taken social media by the storm.
“Babe wake up someone created Google Translate for LinkedIn,” one user said on X in a post with over 6.6 million views.
Redditors, meanwhile, have been testing how well the tool deals with funny or obnoxious phrases. LinkedIn Speak always seems to come up with an answer.
Take one user who inputed the phrase “my dog has bad gas.”
The translator responded: “I’m currently navigating a unique air quality challenge within my domestic ecosystem. It’s a powerful reminder that even our most loyal partners can disrupt the status quo, forcing us to pivot and optimize our environment. Grateful for the opportunity to practice resilience and deep breathing today. #Leadership #ProblemSolving #Agility #PetOwnership.”
Kagi’s viral translator is just one of the company’s growing suite of products. Its flagship search engine sets itself apart due to its focus on privacy, with the company claiming it is free of ads and does not track the user’s data.
Kagi is able to provide services without data mining by charging users, offering tiered prices starting at $5 a month.
Giorgio Brullo, translate lead at Kagi, told Fast Company that LinkedIn Speak felt like a natural extension due to the proliferation of the social network’s distinct communication style.
“[We’ve] been continuously shipping new features while keeping a playful spirit, adding fun translation modes like Pirate Speak, Reddit Speak, fictional languages, and most recently LinkedIn Speak,” he said. “We’ve also had some fun on social media, like translating plain English into McKinsey consultant speak.”
The company also offers its own large language model (LLM), and recently launched the mobile option of its translator tool, and “Small Web,” which curates a collection of human-authored and noncommercial websites.
And while LinkedIn Speak might be taken mostly as a joke online, there’s clearly a practical use to it—as it also allows users to convert LinkedIn posts back to English.
“[Finally] a way to decode what ‘leveraging synergies across cross-functional teams’ actually means,” one X user added.