Google Cloud Next 24 Recap Part I: Google Doubles Down on AI at Cloud Next – Assistants Everywhere
Google held its Google Cloud Next ’24 event in Las Vegas, and they left no doubt that they are doubling down on AI in every product line from Cloud, Analytics, Workspace, and Security. One of the things that struck us was the sheer number of new capabilities. I recorded over forty videos from just the keynote. This blog summarizes the key takeaways from the news on all the new AI-based Assistants at Cloud Next.
Collaboration & Productivity: Vids, Chat and Meet
First Google is in a race with Microsoft and Google Gemini is the face-off tool that goes against Microsoft 365 CoPilot. Next, there were more updates to different products that are part of Workspace than we have seen in the past. Many new AI capabilities will make work easier for users.
Google Vids – Automating Video Creation
Google introduced Google Vids, a new way to storyboard and create videos that look to save significant time. See this blog for a full deep dive into Google Vids.
Google Meet – New AI and new SKU
Google Meet new abilities to translate languages during a meeting. The new features are a $10 per month per user add-on and include: take notes for me, translate for me, New meeting summaries, and the ability for it to take notes for the user.
Google Chat
For Google Chat, Gemini can also summarize long chats that are taking place live or when you return to your desktop or mobile device. Due to its partnership with Mio, Google Chat now features seamless integration with other tools including Slack and Teams.
AI & Machine Learning: Powering the Next Generation of Cloud
- Gemini Takes Center Stage – Google continued to tout Gemini both Pro and Ultra. While those editions had been available before, what stood out was Google Customers talking about them. Bayer, Goldman Sachs, IHG Hotels and Mercedes were all praising Google and their innovation. I would point out that Gemini is extremely fast and is now multi-modal. It can look at text, images, and video. Aragon Research has also been using Gemini- and image generation is as good or better than any Stock photo service we had subscribed to.
- Vertex AI Gets Even Better – Google’s end-to-end AI platform saw the release of 1.5 Pro in public preview. This means that complex operations, such as Claims management for insurance can be automated by allowing Vertex to look at Images and Videos when putting the claim together.
Google Cloud – Assistants Emerge for Code, Cloud, and Security
Google Cloud is certainly gaining more momentum and with the new assistants, there should be even more demand. Here are some of the new Assistants that were unveiled.
- Gemini Code Assist – With full code awareness, Google Code Assist will now run where you work including Bitbucket, Github, GitLab, or across multiple repositories. Developers will be able to make large-scale changes to code bases. Code Assist will also use RAG to help developers with Code completion and overall generation.
- Google Cloud Assist – helps to create, deploy, and manage applications, optimize performance, and troubleshoot issues. This is an assistant that will be very popular in helping Cloud operations teams move faster with the whole process of developing and managing cloud applications in Google Cloud.
- Gemini for Security Operations – Google took all the work from its SecPalm LLM news from last year to a completely different level. Gemini in Security Operations can now detect, investigate, and respond to threats
Bottom Line
Google Cloud Next ’24 had a very large turnout – and real customers were talking about how they are putting Google Cloud and Google Workspace to work. The race is on for AI and Google left no doubt that they are all in on products and product innovation.
Enterprises should look at Google for their different AI needs, including Intelligent Assistants, Digital Workplace, Collaboration, Cloud, and AI-based application development. There is more to Next and we will dive deeper into some of these announcements in separate blogs.
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