Google is giving Workspace a huge AI boost with the introduction of Workspace Flows and podcast-style summaries, as announced at the Google Cloud Next event. These features represent a substantial shift in how consumers interact with Google's productivity tools, highlighting automation, smart summaries, and always-on support.
At the heart of the update is Workspace Flows, a new tool designed to automate complex workflows across Google Workspace apps. Users can simply describe their goals in plain language—such as "sort customer support tickets" or "review documents before approval"—and the system will do the task with Gemini Gems, Google's customizable AI agents. Flows may be integrated with programs like Google Drive, and Google is also working to extend compatibility to third-party platforms.
Meanwhile, Google Docs is getting a creative upgrade with Audio Overviews, which allows users to create podcast-style summaries of their documents. Inspired by NotebookLM, this feature is ideal for users who prefer listening to reading or want an entertaining summary style. Along with this, a new Help Me Refine tool functions as a writing coach, providing AI-powered suggestions to improve structure, reasoning, and clarity in your drafts.
Google Sheets will gain a feature called Help Me Analyze, which uses AI to surface insights, identify trends, and recommend interactive charts, making data more accessible and actionable. The new Take Notes for Me function will automatically summarize and highlight significant topics from video calls.
Additionally, Google Chat allows users to summon the Gemini assistant directly with "@gemini" in any chat for immediate AI assistance.
Rounding out the updates, Google Vids, the company's AI video tool, will use the Veo 2 model to make professional-quality clips, while new data residency controls will assist users in complying with data standards by limiting where information is handled.
With these enhancements, Google is firmly establishing Workspace as an AI-first productivity platform, blending smart automation, creative tools, and real-time assistance to meet the demands of modern work.