Google has woven Gemini generative AI throughout its B2B productivity offering, Google Workspace.
In this post, we’ll look at the features and benefits of this functionality.
Google’s Approach to B2B AI
Creating compelling B2B functionality for artificial intelligence is not as unconstrained a process as launching an all-purpose large language model to the masses, as OpenAI did with ChatGPT.
B2B AI functionality needs to be released slowly and carefully — and, as Google stated, “keep the user in control, letting AI make suggestions that [users are] able to accept, edit, and change.”
This is understandable, as unfettered generative AI could damage customer relationships that took years to build.
Let’s look at several ways Google Workspace customers can use Gemini for Google Workspace.
As users of other AI-based tools, such as ChatGPT, have discovered, prompting is a discipline in and of itself.
Gmail Content Suggestions
If a Google Workspace user needs assistance creating a business email, Gemini’s ‘Help me write’ creative authoring aid drafts a suggestion based on a prompt that a user provides.
After Gemini creates the draft, the technology lets the user recreate, refine, or insert the suggestion.
‘Refine’ options include
- Formalize
- Elaborate
- Shorten
- I’m Feeling Lucky
Google Docs Content Suggestions
Suggestions for Google Docs work similarly to those of Gmail. Here is a ‘Help me write’ prompt we tested.
Write the first section of a proposal for Salesforce consulting services for Abbott Solar. Abbott Solar’s current issue is that customer information is siloed in different databases across their organization. This has resulted in a negative customer experience for some of Abbott’s customers.
Below is the initial suggestion that Gemini provided for this prompt. As with much AI-generated content, humans should make factual and grammatical edits before sharing the content.
In the case of a sales proposal, a Google Sheets pricing table can be embedded in the document.
As with a Gmail suggestion, there are options to recreate or refine the initial output before inserting it in the Doc.
A ‘Proofread’ function has been added to Google Docs.
Google Sheets Enhancements
‘Help me organize’ in Google Sheets automatically generates a Sheets template for keeping track of business data.
We tested the prompt ‘Plan a sales kickoff meeting.’
It’s easy to imagine that a use case like this can be a time saver.
Generative AI Images in Google Slides
Instead of using stock photos in Google Slides, Google Workspace users can prompt Gemini to create foreground and background images. This is called the ‘Help me visualize’ feature.
Users familiar with text-to-image prompting, such as those who use Midjourney or OpenAI, can create images for a presentation using similar prompts within Google Slides.
Specific images, such as landscape photos, sketches, and abstracts, render well. By its admission, Google needs more time to generate usable images of people.
Here’s a slide background we generated using the prompt, ‘Business blue boke conference room.’
Google Meet
Gemini allows Google Workspace users to create original Google Meet backgrounds that align with the topic or customer.
We tested one using the prompt, “A daytime business conference at an outdoor amphitheater in Mountain View, California.”
Also, a ‘Studio look’ video toggle “Sharpens your features so people can see you better.”
Google Vids
Gemini supports Google Vids, an AI-powered video creation tool released in 2024 and continually enhanced.
The Google Gemini App
Google Gemini can be accessed by Google Workspace users at gemini.google.com.
One of the many use cases for the app is utilizing Deep Research to boost sales.
NotebookLM
NotebookLM enables the distillation of information from various sources, allowing users to consume it in formats such as video, audio, reports, and mind maps.
Within an organization, it can be utilized for knowledge sharing, sales enablement, and even business strategy development.
Opal
Google Opal is an experimental platform from Google Labs that enables users to create and share their own ‘AI mini-apps’ without requiring any code.
Utilizing natural language, users can describe the functionality they want, and Opal translates it into a visual workflow. Components of the flow can be manually edited.
This tool incorporates Google’s AI models, such as Gemini and Veo, enabling the creation of applications that can perform a wide range of tasks.
Google Workspace’s Gemini can be a game-changer for businesses of all sizes. It can help automate tasks, improve collaboration, and increase productivity.
We have all learned that AI advances quickly, and that has certainly been the case for Gemini for Google Workspace.
