Google Cloud CEO Outlines AI Agent Advances as Businesses Explore Automation

Kurian highlighted close collaboration with DeepMind, including teams working side-by-side to refine the Gemini harness based on enterprise workflows. This feedback loop incorporates complex scenarios from customers, improving model performance in constrained environments.

a related development, H&R Block CEO Curtis Campbell stated that the company is exploring automation for lower-value tasks in tax preparation. This would allow professionals to focus on client relationships. Campbell shared these insights in an interview with Fortune's CEO Playbook.

H&R Block's approach aligns with broader industry trends toward technology optimization in professional services. The company has not detailed timelines or specific technologies for implementation. Kurian mentioned customers like Bosch, eBay, Virgin Voyages, Walmart, Food and Drug Administration, and Unilever using Google Cloud agents for various business problems.

For instance, agents at Citi research investment priorities and interact with financial portfolios.

addressed perceptions of Google's scale potentially hindering focus, stating that all Google products use the same Gemini version and harness. He reported generating 16 billion tokens per minute, up from 10 billion in recent months, indicating strong usage.

The interview also covered balancing internal needs with external customers, such as Anthropic. Kurian emphasized partnerships and Google's readiness for AI advancements.

“We have a harness in which all these flows journeys, for example, as we see them with customers, we put them into the harness and they get into the reinforcement loop for Gemini.”

H&R Block operates as a tax preparation services provider in the United States. Campbell's comments suggest potential efficiency gains without specifying impacts on employment. Kurian noted prior roles, including his time at Oracle before joining Google in 2018. The discussion underscored Google's capex investments, with half directed to cloud infrastructure shared with internal operations.