Google Rolls Out Gemini Agent for Business Tasks
Google is bringing Gemini into business workflows as an agent that can plan tasks, connect to company systems and act on assigned objectives. CEO Sundar Pichai…
AI Gemini is moving from answering questions to carrying out assigned work for businesses, as Google starts rolling out an agent that can plan tasks and connect with company systems. The company says the business-first approach will help it address security, scale and performance before bringing the agent to consumers.
The shift gives companies a tool designed to act, not just respond. At a Google Cloud event on Thursday, Google announced a unified agent that can take on objectives from a single interface.
From instructions to objectives
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said the agent can be given “objectives, not just instructions.” It can plan work, use custom skills and tools, and connect to internal business systems to carry out tasks.
Users can attach files, folders or projects built for specific workstreams. The agent can also connect to services including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Jira, Confluence, Git, BigQuery, Databricks, Postgres and Snowflake. Google said it can work with Model Context Protocol servers inside or outside a company’s network.
That reach could make the agent useful for work that crosses multiple apps, but it also puts control and visibility at the center of the rollout. Google says users can follow activity in a “tasks inbox,” including the agent’s reasoning process, delegation to subagents, use of special skills, code and task progress.
The agent will have its own Workspace account, email address and context, functioning like another coworker in a company’s systems. It can be contacted by tagging it, emailing it, sharing with it or adding it to a group chat. Google says actions will be recorded in an audit trail attributed to the agent rather than an individual employee.
Google starts with businesses
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Gemini has over 1 billion monthly active users and nearly 90% of Fortune 100 businesses now use Gemini Enterprise at work. The company plans to focus first on those business customers, then bring the agent to consumers.
Pichai said the business-first sequence would help Google work through the “harder problems around security, scale, and performance.” Those issues matter because the agent may be able to access company data, calendars, approval requirements and internal tools as it completes assigned work.
The agent will be available through iOS and Android devices, Windows and Mac desktops, a command line interface, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, ServiceNow and Slack. Google said early testers included sportswear brand On, Shopify and PayPal.
Google is also offering companies more ways to manage spending on AI. The options include multi-model orchestration, smart routing and real-time spend caps, which the company says are intended to help control enterprise AI costs.
The agent will choose a model by default, though users can take control and select one, including Anthropic’s Claude models. Google said it plans to add open-source and other private models to the picker in the future.
Google’s announcement comes as AI products expand beyond chat into tools that can take on multistep tasks. The company’s initial business focus reflects the complexity of letting an AI system act across workplace applications and data. Pichai said Gemini has over 1 billion monthly active users.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
