Google brings agentic AI to Gemini, starting with businesses
At a Google Cloud event on Thursday, Google announced it is bringing Gemini into what it calls the agentic age with a unified agent that can plan and execute work on a user's behalf from a single interface. Google will initially focus on businesses before later rolling the agent out to consumers. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the agent can be given objectives rather than just instructions, allowing it to plan work, use custom skills and tools, and connect to internal systems.
By default the agent selects the best model for a task, but users can override that choice, including with third-party models starting with Anthropic's Claude. Google said it will later expand the model picker to open source and other private models. Requests can include attachments such as files, folders, or projects, and the agent can connect to systems including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Jira, Confluence, Git, BigQuery, Databricks, Postgres, Snowflake, and any Model Context Protocol (MCP) server inside or outside a company's network. MCP is a standard that lets AI systems connect to external tools and data sources.
A tasks inbox interface shows the agent's thinking process, delegation to subagents, loading of skills, code, and progress. The agent gets its own Workspace account, including an email address and its own context, and knows team members, time zones, approvers, and calendars. It can be reached by tagging, emailing, sharing, or adding it to a group chat, and its actions write an audit trail attributed to the agent rather than a person. It is accessible from iOS and Android, Windows and Mac desktops, the command line interface, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, ServiceNow, and Slack.
CEO Sundar Pichai said Gemini has over 1 billion monthly active users and that nearly 90% of Fortune 100 businesses use Gemini Enterprise at work. Early testers included On, Shopify, and PayPal; Gemini Enterprise customers include BNP Paribas, Bradesco, Merck, Orange Spain, Santee Cooper, SOMPO, Ulta Beauty, and Wesfarmers. Google said flexible spending options including multi-model orchestration, smart routing, and real-time spend caps will help businesses control enterprise AI costs.
Why it matters: Businesses using Gemini Enterprise get an agent that operates inside existing workplace systems under its own identity and audit trail, while consumers will have to wait for a later rollout.
Based on reporting from the original publisher. Visit the source for full context and later updates.
Publisher excerpt
Google is turning Gemini into an AI agent that can plan, execute tasks, and work across business apps and systems. The agent can delegate work to subagents, use multiple AI models, and even gets its own workplace identity, complete with an email address.