Next '26 - when you don't have enterprise legacy, you build it. Google Cloud's playbook for winning agentic AI trust.

On the first day of Next ‘26, I asked whether Google Cloud's push to own the enterprise AI governance layer was a realistic competitive proposition - or whether enterprise buyer legacy and a competitive landscape that’s seeing ServiceNow, Salesforce, Workday and Microsoft all making the same claim (amongst others) - would make this difficult. Having spent two days here in Las Vegas with the company - sitting in on the keynotes, product demos, interviewing customers, speaking with CEO Thomas Kurian and other Google Cloud executives - I think I’ve got a better understanding of Google Cloud’s playbook for winning agentic AI trust in the enterprise.

The competitive questions I raised on Tuesday haven't disappeared, but I think Google Cloud’s official position of ‘being Switzerland’ in the enterprise AI value capture is a little more nuanced than it’s fully letting on. Google Cloud’s strategy, I think, is ...