Google brings agentic AI to Gemini, starting with businesses

Google is making a bold leap from conversational chatbots to autonomous agents with its latest update to Gemini. According to recent reports, the tech giant is equipping Gemini with the ability to plan, execute tasks, and operate seamlessly across various business applications. This is not just a minor feature update but a fundamental shift in how we interact with artificial intelligence in the workplace.

The new agentic capabilities allow Gemini to delegate work to subagents, creating a hierarchical structure for task management. This means complex projects can be broken down and handled by specialized parts of the system, much like a human manager assigning tasks to different team members. It is a significant step toward more sophisticated and scalable AI operations in corporate environments.

What makes this development particularly interesting is the integration of multiple AI models within a single workflow. Gemini can now leverage different models for different parts of a task, optimizing for speed, accuracy, or cost as needed. This multi-model approach ensures that the system is not just smart but also efficient and adaptable to the specific demands of each subtask.

Perhaps the most striking feature is that Gemini now has its own workplace identity, complete with a dedicated email address. This allows the agent to communicate directly with other employees and systems without constant human intervention. It blurs the line between a tool and a colleague, raising interesting questions about accountability and workflow integration.

This move by Google signals a broader industry trend toward agentic AI, where systems do more than just answer questions. They take action, make decisions, and drive processes forward. For businesses, this means the potential for significant automation of routine and complex tasks alike, freeing up human workers to focus on higher-level strategy and creative problem-solving.

However, the introduction of autonomous agents also brings new challenges. Companies will need to establish clear guidelines for how these agents interact with internal systems and external partners. Security and privacy concerns will be paramount, especially when an AI has its own identity and can send emails on behalf of an organization.

The implications for entrepreneurs and professionals are profound. As AI agents become more capable, the value of human labor may shift toward oversight, strategy, and ethical decision-making. Those who can effectively manage and integrate these agents into their workflows will likely gain a significant competitive advantage.

What this means for you: Start experimenting with multi-step automation in your current AI tools. You can begin by defining a complex task and breaking it down into smaller subtasks. Then, use an AI assistant to draft a workflow where each subtask is assigned to a different model or tool. For example, you might use one model for research, another for drafting, and a third for editing. This approach helps you understand how to manage agentic workflows before they become mainstream. Try this prompt with your AI assistant: 'Break down the process of creating a weekly market analysis report into five distinct subtasks. For each subtask, suggest a specific AI tool or model that would be best suited to handle it, and explain why.'