Google’s AI Updates Point to Big Tech’s Ambitions for B2B
Big Tech giants have always targeted enterprises.
And with the recent announcement during Alphabet’s annual Google Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday (April 9) of several new, business-focused artificial intelligence (AI) updates to Google Workspace, the impact of AI software for B2B applications is top of mind for companies looking to modernize their workflows.
That’s because Google’s ambition with its enterprise AI products is not just to streamline tasks, but to transform them into more intelligent, automated processes.
“With these…advances, enterprises can do things today that just weren’t possible with AI before,” Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, said during Tuesday’s event.
One of the advances Pichai was referring to is the announcement of Google Vids as a part of Google Workspace. Google Vids, an AI-powered video creation app for work, allows firms to create short videos using text prompts that can be used for employee training videos, customer testimonials and marketing initiatives.
In June, Google Vids will join other Google Workspace apps such as Slides, Docs and Sheets in the enterprise dashboard toolkit — underscoring the place Google sees the new AI app holding among other business-focused solutions.
“We’re bringing the…magic of real-time collaboration to video, allowing people everywhere to tap into immersive storytelling at work,” said Aparna Pappu, general manager and vice president, Google Workspace, in a blog post.
Observers believe the move by Google is part of a broader push by the “Magnificent 7” (formerly known as FAANG) into the B2B space.
Read more: Tech Experts Share What to Ask When Adding AI to Business
Business Tech Tools Are Redefining Enterprise Processes
Google’s cloud-based business software is one of the more popular workplace suites around, and the new, embedded AI features offer a glimpse into a future where AI plays a central role in business strategy and workflows.
As the company itself noted, “70% of enterprise users who use Help me write in Docs or Gmail end up taking Gemini’s suggestions, and more than 75% of users who create images in Slides are inserting them into their presentations.”
“[AI] is something that every knowledge worker, everyone who works on a computer, really, can get some value out of,” Eddie Zhou, head of AI at Glean, told PYMNTS in March during a conversation for the “AI Effect” series.
On Tuesday, PYMNTS also reported on how Discover Financial Services announced a collaboration with Google Cloud to provide generative AI (GenAI) tools to Discover’s contact center agents.
One of the capabilities provided by Google’s GenAI tools is intelligent document summarization, in which the tools analyze and summarize complex policies and procedures and provides agents with information and insights to answer customers’ questions. The tools also deliver real-time search assistance that allows agents to use natural language to access knowledge bases and find relevant information during live interactions.
“AI is going to be an imperative for every company, and what you do with AI is what will differentiate your products,” Heather Bellini, president and chief financial officer at InvestCloud, told PYMNTS. “Functionally, it might get rid of a lot of the manual work people don’t want to do anyway and extract them up to a level where they can do more things that have a direct impact on the business.”
Read also: AI’s Future Is Becoming Indistinguishable From the Future of Work
A Major Leap Forward for B2B Operations
The integration of AI tools like Google Vids into business operations will catalyze a shift toward more efficient and personalized business practices. It also highlights the growing importance of video content in B2B marketing and communication strategies.
Since GenI first burst onto the landscape, PYMNTS has been tracking how the innovation can impact finance departments and what CFOs are doing to use it.
“Businesses are becoming much more aware and much more savvy about how to operate digitally,” James Butland, U.K. managing director at Mangopay, told PYMNTS in January.
PYMNTS Intelligence’s report “Understanding the Future of Generative Al” found that enterprise AI systems could impact 40% of all working hours, and the generative AI industry is expected to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2032. It is projected to give back workers and employees their productivity by optimizing legacy processes.
