Google pushes AI agents

Google spent April 22 putting AI agents at the center of its cloud business, with new tools for companies to build, run, secure, and monitor fleets of software assistants. (usnews.com) At Google Cloud Next in Las Vegas, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and cloud chief Thomas Kurian pitched agents as the next layer of enterprise software, not just chatbots that answer questions. Google said its new Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform grows out of Vertex AI and adds orchestration, security, DevOps, and integration features for agents. (blog.google) (cloud.google.com) An AI agent is software that can take steps on its own — like checking a system, drafting a reply, or triggering a workflow — instead of only generating text when a person asks. Reuters reported Google also showed tools to track agents’ work inside companies, including a dedicated inbox where bots can post updates and progress reports. (usnews.com) (cloud.google.com) Google’s pitch is aimed at companies that want to deploy many agents at once, then manage permissions, data access, and handoffs between them. TechCrunch described Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform as Google’s answer to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and Microsoft Foundry, with an emphasis on tools for information technology teams and other technical users. (tech.yahoo.com) The timing reflects a wider race among cloud providers to turn generative artificial intelligence into recurring business software revenue. Reuters said Google used its annual cloud conference to show investors that agents are a linchpin of its plan to monetize artificial intelligence through enterprise products. (usnews.com) Google also tied the agent push to its office software and internal communications tools, arguing that workers will manage digital helpers alongside email, documents, and meetings. Reuters reported the company updated Workspace and sketched a future in which agents reshape day-to-day office routines. (newsbreak.com) Partners immediately started attaching industry use cases to the launch. SAP and Google Cloud said on April 22 that marketers will be able to use Joule agents in SAP customer-experience software, with Gemini Enterprise acting as a hub for agents to exchange context and take actions across both companies’ systems; SAP said the first marketing use case is due in the second half of 2026. (news.sap.com) That kind of workflow is the part smaller service businesses will recognize fastest: software following up with leads, repackaging content for different channels, or coordinating outreach across tools without a staff member clicking through each step. Google’s message in Las Vegas was that those tasks should run inside its cloud, with Gemini acting less like a single chatbot and more like a manager for many bots at once. (cloud.google.com) (thenextweb.com)