Google is pushing Gemini deeper into the workplace with a new AI agent built to handle tasks, use business applications and complete multi-step work rather than simply respond to prompts.
Google Cloud introduced the Gemini agent as the company looks to turn its AI technology into something closer to a digital coworker. The agent can plan tasks, use connected tools, create content and work across business applications.
The move comes as the enterprise AI market shifts toward AI agents that can take action on behalf of employees. OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta and other technology companies are also developing systems designed to move AI from answering questions to actually doing the work.
Google Wants Gemini to Act More Like a Digital Coworker
The latest Gemini push reflects a change in what businesses expect from workplace AI. Traditional chatbots typically wait for an employee to ask a question, generate a response and leave the user to carry out the next steps. Google wants its new agent to handle more of that process itself.
The Gemini agent can take a broader instruction, determine the steps needed and use connected business tools to carry out those tasks. That makes the technology less like a conventional chatbot and more like an AI system operating inside a company’s existing workflow.
For businesses experimenting with agentic AI, that distinction could become increasingly important. The value is no longer just in producing a faster answer. It is in reducing the amount of manual work required after the answer arrives.
Gemini Can Work Across Google Workspace and Other Business Platforms
Google is placing the Gemini agent directly inside the software many employees already use every day. The system can work across Gmail, Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Chat and Calendar, giving it access to the applications where much of a company’s routine knowledge work takes place.
The company is also opening the agent to platforms outside its own ecosystem, including Microsoft 365 and Slack. That matters for large organisations that rarely operate entirely inside one software environment.
Instead of asking businesses to replace their existing tools, Google is positioning Gemini as an AI layer that can work across them. That could make adoption easier for companies already invested in Google Cloud and Workspace.
Gemini Can Use Different AI Models for Different Jobs
Google is also taking a multi-model approach with its new agent. The Gemini agent can use Google’s own Gemini models as well as Anthropic’s Claude models, allowing the system to select an appropriate model for different types of work.
That is an important change from the idea that an enterprise AI platform must rely on one model for everything. Businesses have different requirements, and certain models may perform better for particular coding, reasoning, research or productivity tasks.
Google says it plans to support additional models over time. The company is effectively turning model choice into part of the agent platform rather than forcing customers to make that decision separately for every workflow.
Companies Can Create AI Agents With Defined Workplace Roles
Google is taking the concept further with what it calls coworker agents. These systems can be created with their own identities, including email addresses and controlled access to information, allowing them to operate within defined business roles.
That changes the relationship between employees and AI. Instead of opening a chatbot whenever assistance is needed, a company could create an agent responsible for a particular workflow and allow it to operate within predetermined permissions.
The idea also introduces a much bigger governance challenge. Once an AI system can access company information, communicate with people and take actions, businesses need clear rules around identity, authorisation, security and accountability.
Google Is Developing Gemini Agents for Specific Industries
Google is also moving beyond general workplace automation by developing specialised agents for industries with more complex requirements. The company has previewed agents for financial services and legal work, with additional applications planned for areas including government, healthcare and retail.
Industry-specific AI can be more useful when the work involves specialised terminology, processes and regulations. A generic assistant may understand a question, but an agent built around a particular industry can be designed around the systems and workflows employees actually use.
For Google, these specialised agents also create another route into enterprise AI spending. Instead of selling only a general-purpose assistant, the company can build Gemini into specific business functions where automation could have a direct operational impact.
Google Is Entering an Increasingly Crowded AI Agent Market
The Gemini announcement arrives as the major AI companies increasingly compete over autonomous software agents. OpenAI, Microsoft and Meta are all developing systems designed to complete tasks rather than simply generate responses.
That changes the nature of the competition. The question is no longer just which company has the most capable chatbot or the strongest model. The bigger question is which platform can persuade businesses to let AI interact with their systems and perform meaningful work.
Google has an obvious advantage in that contest because of its existing productivity and cloud infrastructure. Gemini can potentially reach businesses through tools they already use rather than starting from a completely new software environment.
Google Already Has a Large Enterprise Base for Gemini
Google is entering the agent market with a sizeable enterprise footprint. The company says nearly 80% of Google Cloud customers use its AI products, while almost 90% of Fortune 100 companies use Gemini Enterprise.
Google also says hundreds of its cloud customers have processed extremely large volumes of AI tokens during the past year. Those figures give the company a substantial base from which to introduce more advanced agent capabilities.
The strategy is fairly straightforward. If businesses are already using Gemini for search, productivity, coding or other AI tasks, Google has a much easier path to introducing agents that can take on more responsibility.
Enterprise Trust Could Decide How Far AI Agents Go
The technical capabilities of workplace agents are only part of the equation. Businesses also have to decide how much authority they are comfortable giving AI systems that can access internal information and take actions.
An AI assistant that produces a slightly inaccurate summary is inconvenient. An agent that sends the wrong email, changes a document, accesses sensitive information or makes an incorrect business decision can create a much bigger problem.
Google is therefore putting considerable emphasis on permissions, identity, security and governance. Those controls could become just as important as model performance as companies decide whether to deploy AI agents across their organisations.
Google Is Betting That the Next AI Battle Will Be About Action
The Gemini agent shows where Google’s enterprise AI strategy is heading. Gemini is no longer being positioned simply as a system that answers questions, writes text or summarises information.
Google wants it to plan, use tools, connect applications and complete work.
That is a much bigger proposition for businesses. If AI agents become reliable enough to handle significant parts of everyday knowledge work, they could become embedded deeply into how companies operate.
Google already has the models, cloud infrastructure and productivity software. Now it is trying to connect all three.
The real test will be whether businesses trust Gemini enough to let it do the work.
Sources
- Reuters — Google Cloud introduces Gemini agent for work as AI race heats up
https://www.reuters.com/business/google-cloud-introduces-gemini-agent-work-ai-race-heats-up-2026-10-08/ - Google Cloud — Gemini at Work
https://cloud.google.com/ - Google Cloud — AI and Gemini enterprise announcements
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/
