Google Intensifies Its AI Workplace Strategy with Gemini Enterprise

On Thursday, Google introduced a new AI platform for businesses, called Gemini Enterprise, which represents its latest effort to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI in the growing market of workplace AI solutions.

During the launch event, Google revealed several new clients adopting Gemini Enterprise, such as the software design firm Figma; Klarna, a buy-now-pay-later service; Gordon Foods, a foodservice distributor; Macquarie Bank, an Australian retail bank; and Virgin Voyages, a cruise line that has deployed over 50 specialized AI agents capable of executing tasks autonomously using Gemini Enterprise.

Gemini Enterprise builds on the company’s prior attempts to incorporate AI capabilities into the business landscape. However, Google emphasizes that this is not merely a rebranding effort, despite the frequently evolving and often overlapping nomenclature linked to its enterprise brand, Google Workspace. For instance, Google Workspace adopted the Gemini branding in February 2024 and rolled out generative AI add-ons branded as Gemini Enterprise for businesses. Earlier this year, the company phased out the Workspace Gemini Enterprise add-on after embedding AI features into its Workspace Business and Enterprise plans.

The newly launched Gemini Enterprise is not an add-on for Workspace; it operates as an independent, secure platform within Google Cloud that functions as an AI agent toolkit—a collection of resources that empower companies to develop and utilize their own AI assistants. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian referred to it as “the new front door for AI in the workplace” in a blog post.

Gemini Enterprise enables businesses to securely create, share, and utilize AI agents for various workplace roles, including sales, marketing, engineering, human resources, and finance. For the first time, these AI agents can access, merge, and analyze data from internal systems in addition to Google AI tools like Code Assist and Deep Research, all within a unified enterprise workflow.

All interactions occur via a Gemini Enterprise chatbot that links to a user’s data, encompassing Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and business applications like Salesforce and SAP. The platform showcases Google’s Gemini AI models alongside other offerings, including a set of pre-built Google agents for deep research and data insights, a no-code solution for analyzing information and automating internal procedures, and a centralized governance framework for visualizing, securing, and auditing all agents from a single location.

This new “front door for AI in the workplace” does come with associated costs. The company announced that its annual Gemini Enterprise standard and “plus” editions begin at $30 per seat per month. A more economical Gemini Business annual plan, designed for small businesses, startups, or specific departments within larger organizations, is available at $21 per seat per month. Google has also indicated that the business edition launched on Thursday includes a 30-day free trial for all customers.

Gemini Enterprise underscores Google’s ongoing commitment to secure a stronger position in the enterprise market, which has become increasingly competitive as generative AI becomes more essential to workplace operations. Notable AI startups Anthropic and OpenAI also offer enterprise solutions, attracting significant clients.

OpenAI states on its website that it has reached 5 million business users for its ChatGPT Enterprise product, launched in 2023. Recently, Deloitte announced its plans to implement Anthropic’s chatbot Claude for its nearly 500,000 global employees.