Google Workspace: A Guide for Using AI at Work

Oct. 29, 2025 /Mpelembe Media/ — The Google Workspace guide details the integration and benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across its suite of work applications. It asserts that Google is leading AI innovation and helping organisations enhance human potential through features built for security and scale. The guide specifically highlights new generative AI tools like the multimodal Gemini app, which assists with research and content creation, and NotebookLM, a research assistant grounded in user-provided sources. Furthermore, the document outlines how AI functionality is now integrated into specific Workspace apps—including Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Chat, Vids, and AppSheet—to automate tasks and boost productivity. Finally, the guide addresses data security and compliance, affirming that Google does not use customer data for training AI models outside of the user’s domain without permission, while maintaining robust IT controls and certifications.

The integration of generative AI (Gen AI) fundamentally transforms workflows and user productivity across Google Workspace applications by automating, accelerating, kickstarting, enhancing, and enabling overall better work. This shift moves beyond previous native AI features, such as Smart Compose, by introducing new tools like Gemini, NotebookLM, and Vids, which unlock new levels of productivity by allowing users to create content, research, learn, analyze, and automate tasks in new ways.

The core transformation is characterized by enhanced efficiency, deep contextual understanding, accelerated content creation, and seamless cross-application functionality.

Here is an application-by-application breakdown of how integrated Gen AI transforms productivity:

Cross-Application Productivity and Workflow Transformation

Gen AI, particularly through the Gemini app, transforms foundational workflows by acting as a multimodal assistant that helps users get more done in less time, whether for quick answers or tackling complex projects.

Deep Research Acceleration: Gen AI can execute deep research, gathering findings from various web sources into a comprehensive, easy-to-read report in mere minutes, a process that previously took hours. These reports can be exported to Google Docs for easy sharing.

Seamless Integration and Focus: Gemini connects seamlessly across Workspace apps, enabling users to pull schedules from Gmail, content from Docs, and PDFs from Drive without switching tabs or windows, allowing them to stay focused and complete quality work faster.

Custom Automation: Gems (customizable versions of Gemini) can be tailored to handle specialized or repetitive tasks, acting like an expert to help craft marketing copy or prepare for interviews. Gems become smarter and more tailored when fed specific documents and information.

Research, Information Management, and Learning

The introduction of NotebookLM and features within Drive transforms how users interact with and utilize their internal knowledge base:

Grounded Responses and Precise Answering: NotebookLM, powered by Gemini, acts as a research and learning assistant that navigates and understands information effectively. Its key transformation is source grounding, meaning all generated content, summaries, or answers are traceable solely to the files or webpages the user provides. It can instantly recall specific details from a vast library to provide relevant answers to complex or simple questions.

Drive Query and Summary: Gemini in Drive helps users quickly find answers and insights across their files. It summarizes long documents and PDFs and allows users to ask complex questions about any PDF. Users can query entire folders, asking questions like, “What’s the most important objective for this project?”.

Audio Learning: NotebookLM can convert research and resources into engaging audio discussions with two AI hosts, making connections between topics, which can also be downloaded.

Security Automation: Gemini in Drive can automatically identify, classify, and protect sensitive organizational content with precision and scale.

Communication and Collaboration

Gen AI significantly accelerates and enhances communication workflows in Gmail, Meet, and Chat:

Application | Productivity Transformation | Workflow Impact
Gmail | Drafting and Refinement: Gemini assists in drafting, replying, sifting through, and summarizing emails. The “Help me write” feature creates new drafts from simple prompts, or polishes tone and shortens long messages with a single click. | Customer service teams saw a 30-35% reduction in time spent drafting messages, leading to quicker response times, better job satisfaction, and higher response quality.
| Inbox Management: Users can find specific messages or information (e.g., invoices) by prompting Gemini in the side panel. | Users can get up to speed on long email threads by clicking a button to generate a summary.
Google Meet | Automated Note-Taking: Gemini automatically takes notes during meetings, organises them in a Doc, saves them to Drive, and notifies users via Gmail. | Allows participants to focus on contributing rather than note-taking. Also extracts insights and generates action items.
| Language Barrier Removal: Provides real-time translated captions in over 65 languages, helping everyone feel included in global teams.
Google Chat | Catch-up and Context: Gemini acts as a real-time assistant, summarizing recent messages and digging up specific details. Provides on-demand summaries of active conversations in the home view. | Allows users to quickly catch up and focus attention where it is needed most.
| Global Collaboration: Translates messages in real time across more than 120 languages, assisting global teams.

Content and Data Creation

Gen AI dramatically accelerates content creation, turning multi-hour tasks into minutes by assisting with structure, imagery, and first drafts:

Application | Productivity Transformation | Workflow Impact
Google Docs | Structured Document Creation: Using simple prompts, Gemini can create professional, stylized, and structured documents, including images and tables, using existing content from Drive. | Accelerates projects and processes through the ability to quickly create production-worthy copy.
| Writing Assistance: The “Help me write” feature brainstorms, creates outlines, writes first drafts, adjusts tone/length, and fixes grammar and punctuation.
Google Sheets | Spreadsheet Building and Analysis: Users can build formatted tables and entire spreadsheets from a simple prompt, even basing them on content from emails or other files. Gemini summarizes spreadsheet data for deeper insights. | Allows users to design step-driven processes with unparalleled flexibility and collaboratively monitor progress in a unified place.
| Formula Generation: Users can ask Gemini in Sheets to create formulas for budget, inventory, or revenue calculations.
Google Slides | Dynamic Visuals and Structure: Gemini helps bring presentations to life by generating new slides (for agendas, executive summaries, or complex content) using prompts and Drive files. It also creates custom, visually stunning images in multiple formats and sizes. | Mocking up a concept can be done in a matter of minutes, rather than hours.
Google Vids | Video Draft Generation: Gemini in Vids generates the first draft of a video storyboard, including suggested scenes, scripts, stock media, and music, using only a prompt and a file from Drive. | Allows for the quick creation of polished videos and personalised outreach for customers.
| AI Voiceovers: Provides a variety of preset, professional-sounding voiceovers.
AppSheet | No-Code App Creation: Gemini in AppSheet transforms conceptual descriptions into fully functional apps that can be edited or published. | Automates manual processes, creating hundreds or thousands of automation opportunities across a company.

Which new tools use generative AI?

The integration of generative AI (Gen AI) into Google Workspace included the introduction of new tools alongside the enhancement of existing applications.

The new tools explicitly mentioned that use generative AI are:

The Gemini app:

The Gemini app is a multimodal generative AI assistant designed to help users with complex projects or provide quick answers.

It is used for brainstorming ideas, researching topics, and improving writing.

It seamlessly connects to other Google Workspace apps, allowing users to pull content from Docs, schedules from Gmail, and PDFs from Drive without switching windows or tabs.

NotebookLM:

NotebookLM serves as a research and learning assistant, powered by Gemini.

It is unique because its responses are “grounded in the sources you provide,” meaning every answer or summary is directly traceable to a specific file or webpage the user has uploaded.

It helps users navigate and understand information more effectively.

Vids (Google Vids):

Google Vids is a cutting-edge video creation platform powered by AI.

Gemini in Vids helps users generate the first draft of a video storyboard, including suggested scenes, scripts, stock media, and music, using just a simple prompt and a file from Google Drive.

It also allows users to generate AI voiceovers by choosing from a variety of preset, professional-sounding options.

NotebookLM is powered by Gemini.

It functions as a research and learning assistant that utilizes Gemini to help users navigate and understand information more effectively. NotebookLM’s responses are also “grounded in the sources you provide”, meaning all generated content is traceable solely to the files or webpages you have uploaded into your notebook.

NotebookLM is grounded in the sources you provide.

This means that its responses are accurate, relevant, and tailored to the specific context of your inquiry. Every answer, summary, or piece of generated content produced by NotebookLM is directly traceable to a specific file or webpage you have uploaded into your notebook.

NotebookLM is a research and learning assistant that is powered by Gemini.

Smart Compose in Gmail uses machine-learning.

It employs machine-learning to suggest the next words or phrases a user might want, which makes drafting and replying to messages more efficient. The integration of AI features like Smart Compose has been natively built into Workspace for several years.

The app that uses Audio overviews is NotebookLM.

NotebookLM can turn your research and resources into engaging **The app that uses Audio overviews is NotebookLM.

NotebookLM can turn your research and resources into engaging audio discussions with one click.

This feature involves two AI hosts starting up a lively conversation based on your material, making connections between topics.

You can also download the conversation to listen to it on the go.

Gemini in Google Meet enhances the meeting experience and allows participants to focus on collaboration by taking care of essential details.

Specifically, Gemini in Meet performs the following tasks:

Automatic Note-Taking (“Take notes for me”): Gemini can automatically take notes during a meeting. It organises these notes in a Google Doc and saves the document to your Drive. It also notifies you via Gmail so you can quickly access the notes. This functionality allows for the extraction of insights and the generation and distribution of action items.

Real-Time Translated Captions: Gemini provides real-time translated captions in more than 65 languages. This helps to break down language barriers and ensures that everyone, including global team members, feels included.

Adaptive Audio: For hybrid meetings, Gemini in Meet helps you look and sound your best by providing adaptive audio features. It synchronizes microphones and speakers to avoid common issues like echoes, feedback, or distortion, even when using a laptop in any space without dedicated conferencing hardware.

The Gemini app is defined as a multimodal generative AI assistant.

Its primary function is to help users with quick answers or to tackle complex projects.

Key details about the Gemini app:

Core Functions: It assists users in getting more done in less time. It is highly useful for brainstorming ideas, researching topics, and improving writing.

Deep Research Capabilities: The Gemini app can explore complex topics and retrieve findings from different sources on the web, compiling them into a comprehensive, easy-to-read report. This process can condense hours of research into mere minutes. These reports can then be exported into Google Docs for easy sharing with teams.

Integration with Workspace: Gemini seamlessly connects to other Google Workspace applications. Users can pull content, such as schedules from Gmail, PDFs from Drive, and documents from Docs, directly into the Gemini app without needing to switch tabs or windows, helping them stay focused.

Customization (Gems): The Gemini app allows for the creation of Gems, which are customizable versions of Gemini. Gems are designed to help with specialized or repetitive tasks, acting like an expert to help craft compelling marketing copy, prepare for job interviews, or brainstorm new ideas. Users can feed Gems their own documents and information to make them smarter and more tailored to specific needs.

Security: Users can employ Gemini to pressure-test their work against target personas, utilizing enterprise-grade data protections.

The app that uses AI voiceovers is Google Vids.

Gemini in Vids allows you to give your videos a fresh voice by choosing from a variety of preset, professional-sounding voiceovers. This feature is part of how Vids helps users create polished videos and engaging stories at work.

You can find Gems within the Gemini app.

Gems are defined as customizable versions of Gemini designed to help with specialized or repetitive tasks. They function like experts that can assist with activities such as crafting marketing copy, preparing for job interviews, or brainstorming new ideas. You can also make Gems smarter and more tailored to your specific needs by feeding them your documents and other information.

Download the complete AI guide here