Google Cloud adds Gemini skills

Google Cloud said on April 22 that Gemini Enterprise now includes reusable Skills, long-running agents, and a no-code Agent Designer for workplace automation. (cloud.google.com) A Skill is a reusable block of instructions, so teams do not have to rewrite the same workflow every time they build an agent. Google said those Skills can now be combined with visual workflow tools or plain-language prompts inside Gemini Enterprise. (cloud.google.com) (docs.cloud.google.com) Google said the updated Agent Designer can build agents “without writing a single line of code,” ranging from simple assistants to multi-step orchestrators. The product also adds an Inbox for long-running agents that can work for hours or days before returning results. (cloud.google.com) The company is also repositioning Gemini Enterprise itself. Google said the app now sits on top of a new Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, which it described as the evolution of Vertex AI into a broader system for building, scaling, governing, and optimizing agents. (cloud.google.com) (blog.google) That matters because Google is no longer pitching Gemini mainly as a chat interface for answering questions. Its April 22 launch frames Gemini Enterprise as a hub where employees can discover, create, share, and run agents tied to company data and third-party systems. (cloud.google.com) (docs.cloud.google.com) Google said the platform connects to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and a growing set of partner agents and data connectors. Its documentation also lists connectors for Confluence, Jira, Microsoft SharePoint, and ServiceNow. (cloud.google.com) (docs.cloud.google.com) The launch came during Google Cloud Next 2026, where the company said nearly 75% of Google Cloud customers use its artificial intelligence products. Google also said customers now process more than 16 billion tokens per minute through direct application programming interface use, up from 10 billion last quarter. (blog.google) (cloud.google.com) Google paired the Gemini Enterprise update with an official Agent Skills repository for developers. That repository launched with Skills for Google Cloud products including BigQuery, Google Kubernetes Engine, and the Gemini application programming interface. (cloud.google.com) The pitch to companies is control as much as automation. Google said Gemini Enterprise gives information technology teams a single control plane, auditability, identity controls, and centralized oversight as organizations begin managing thousands of agents. (cloud.google.com) (docs.cloud.google.com) Google introduced Gemini Enterprise in late 2025 as what it called the “front door” for workplace AI. Six months later, it is recasting that product as the user layer of a larger agent stack built to move from chat to delegated work. (cloud.google.com 1) (cloud.google.com 2)