2024 has been a real coming-of-age year for generative AI in mainstream applications. But many businesses still haven’t figured out how best to adopt gen AI to create real business value. With so many tools in the market, it can be daunting to know where to start.

For any business in this position, Google Workspace (GWS) is a great place to start. 

Generative AI on Google Workspace

As a leading productivity suite, GWS has an impact on users across roles and levels within your organization. And with its seamless integration of generative AI features, a host of activities are made more efficient.

Here are just a few examples of how generative AI can streamline workflows and enhance productivity, across its suite of tools.

AI in Google Sheets

Leverage AI to generate accurate formulae for mathematical calculations, track data, analyze it, and auto-complete rows and columns with missing data. Smart Fill can detect patterns in the existing data and fill in the missing amounts automatically. By clicking the “Explore” button and entering a query like “Show me a chart of the top five expense categories,” AI will even generate a bar chart displaying this information. These tools make managing and analyzing data more efficient and accurate.

AI in Gmail

Gmail includes Smart Reply and Smart Compose features that can save time and effort when writing emails. Smart Reply suggests short responses for incoming emails, while Smart Compose offers word or sentence suggestions as you type. The “Help me write” feature generates draft emails based on your prompts. Additionally, Gmail’s Priority Inbox feature automatically organizes your incoming emails into different tabs based on their level of importance, helping you focus on the most significant emails first.

AI in Google Docs

Features like brainstorming and outlining generate creative ideas and outline document structures based on keywords or a few initial sentences. For proofreading and editing, AI identifies grammatical errors, suggests improvements to sentence structure and clarity, and even checks for plagiarism. An advanced generative AI tool, Duet AI, currently in beta, allows users to have natural language conversations with their documents.

That’s not all though – for example, Google Vids will act as an AI-powered assistant for video creation, helping generate storyboards, draft videos with stock scenes, and select voiceovers. AI Meetings and Messaging include features like automatic note-taking in Meet sessions and real-time translation for captions and messages in Google Chat. The AI Security add-on helps IT teams automatically classify and protect sensitive files in Google Drive using generative AI.

Google Workspace delivers serious generative AI capabilities in a platform that’s familiar and intuitive. But to extract all the value it has to offer, you need a plan and an expert partner by your side.

How to adopt Generative AI with Google Workspace

Step 1: Evaluate Your Needs and Opportunities

Before diving into Generative AI, assess your current business processes and identify where AI can make the most impact. A value-added Google Workspace partner, like CloudNow, can assist in pinpointing valuable use cases based on your unique challenges and opportunities.

Step 2: Prepare Your Team

Creating an AI-ready culture is crucial for successful adoption. Workshops and Training sessions to explain the benefits and uses of Generative AI will help. As will identifying and empowering key employees to lead the AI initiative, and utilizing resources and expertise from your Google Workspace partner to create an environment that’s ready to embrace AI.

Step 3: Activate and Customize Generative AI features

Activating Generative AI features in Google Workspace is straightforward. One can go to the Google Workspace admin console and enable Generative AI features and then tailor these features to fit your specific business activities. 

For example, set up automated email responses for customer service teams or customize document templates for marketing. AI can automate many aspects of customer support workflows. Automation frees up your team to focus more on complex issues or queries from customers. 

An experienced Google Workspace partner like CloudNow can guide you on optimizing these features to suit your workflows.

Step 4: Train your team to use AI tools

Training is key to ensuring that your team can fully utilize Generative AI on Google Workspace. You can do this through specialized training sessions on practical uses of AI in daily tasks as well as through access to tutorials, user guides, and support from your Google Workspace partner to facilitate smooth adoption.

A partner like CloudNow can add serious value to this process through expert-led training sessions and self-learning modules.

Step 5: Monitor usage and impact

To maximize the benefits of Generative AI, establish methods to monitor its usage and impact. First, use built-in analytics tools to track how often and effectively AI features are utilized. This usage tracking provides insight into adoption rates and identifies areas needing improvement. 

Impact analysis helps to assess how AI is enhancing productivity and contributing to business outcomes. This involves measuring key performance indicators before and after AI implementation to gauge its effectiveness. Regularly reviewing collected data and adjusting strategies to optimize performance and return on investment is the next step.

With a partner like CloudNow, periodic audits help you uncover tremendous value – by continuously refining your approach based on this analysis, you can ensure that your use of Generative AI remains efficient and beneficial.

So get started with your gen AI journey today with Google Workspace – with a partner like CloudNow by your side, the possibilities are endless. Reach out to our experts today.