Google pushes agentic enterprise

Google used its Cloud Next event on April 22 to tell investors and customers that AI agents are now central to its enterprise software business. (reuters.com) Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and Google Cloud leaders pitched agents as software that can complete multi-step work across apps, not just answer prompts. Google also announced a $750 million partner fund to help consulting firms, software vendors, and resellers build and deploy those systems. (reuters.com) (googlecloudpresscorner.com) Google said the fund will be available across its 120,000-member partner ecosystem and will pay for development, adoption, and training tied to agentic artificial intelligence. The announcement came in Las Vegas at Cloud Next '26, Google’s annual conference for its cloud and workplace software business. (googlecloudpresscorner.com) (reuters.com) An AI agent is a program that can take actions on a user’s behalf, like checking systems, fixing settings, or filing forms after getting the right context and permissions. Google is aiming those tools at office software, cloud operations, cybersecurity, and advertising, where workers already move between many dashboards and approval steps. (reuters.com) (crn.com) That focus reflects where Google makes money outside consumer search: cloud contracts, workplace subscriptions, security tools, and marketing software. Reuters reported that Google used the conference to show investors how artificial intelligence can become paid enterprise infrastructure rather than a free consumer feature. (reuters.com) The clearest near-term example was Ads Advisor, Google’s assistant inside Google Ads. In April, Google added Real-Time Policy Reviews, which check campaigns as advertisers build them and flag policy problems before ads are rejected or delayed. (dataconomy.com) (business.google.com) Google also added a security insights dashboard and passkey support for Google Ads accounts, plus “instant certifications” that can identify when an advertiser needs a Google certificate and either grant it automatically or guide the application. Those features push the agent from campaign suggestions into compliance, account protection, and paperwork. (searchengineland.com) (tech.yahoo.com) Another April update, App Consent Insights, gives app advertisers a diagnostic view of consent signals by app, platform, region, and campaign performance. That ties Google’s agent push to privacy rules and measurement, two areas where enterprise buyers usually want audit trails and fewer manual checks. (msn.com 1) (msn.com 2) Google is making that pitch while competing with Microsoft, Amazon, OpenAI, and Anthropic for corporate artificial intelligence budgets. Reuters reported that Google’s argument is that its cloud, office apps, chips, and security products give it enough connected systems to run agents inside real business workflows. (reuters.com) (crn.com) The test now is whether those agents save companies enough time to justify new spending and enough control to satisfy legal and security teams. Google’s April rollout shows it is trying to win that argument in the back office first, where permissions, diagnostics, and approvals decide whether software gets used. (reuters.com) (searchengineland.com)