Google Gemini: Worth the Hype?

This Week

It's all about Google Gemini this week.

ChatGPT might be the AI darling, but 9 million organizations use Workspace, and Google hasn’t been sitting on its hands when it comes to AI. Last month, it launched a whole set of upgrades and made Gemini available for Workspace users without the upgrade fee.

Sure, some of the features don’t quite match what you get with the pro versions of ChatGPT, but if your company uses Workspace and has Gemini Advanced, some of these built-in AI features might be surprisingly useful.

Here’s what we’ve got for you this week:

• Google Gemini’s Best Productivity Boosters

• Deep Research Will Save You Hours of Work

• AI That Reads, Summarizes, and Organizes for You

• Turn Your News Into a Personalized Podcast

• Mastering Google’s Gemini Just Got a Lot Easier

Read on.

The 3 Best AI Features in Google Workspace

Google is making big moves with AI, and these new features inside Google Workspace are worth paying attention to.

Here’s what stands out:

• Notebook LM: Identifies patterns and summarizes documents automatically.

• Google Slides: Generates images and pulls in references to streamline presentations.

• Google Sheets: Analyzes data instantly, eliminating the need for formulas and pivot tables.

If you're using Google Workspace (or considering the upgrade), these tools could change the way you work.

Watch the video on my YouTube channel.

Google Gemini’s Best Productivity Boosters

I’ve been experimenting with Gemini since its launch, and in the early days, the functionality wasn’t great. It felt more like a cool demo than a real productivity tool.

But Google’s been hard at work, and the newly integrated Gemini features in Google Workspace are finally starting to deliver.

 I’ve been testing them all out, and here are the ones that are actually worth using:

Drowning in emails? Gmail drafts replies, summarizes long threads and helps you write faster.

Staring at a blank doc? Docs generates content, helps you rephrase your existing copy, and gives you the option of creating images.

Lost in your spreadsheet data? Sheets analyzes data, and suggests formulas - all with simple text based prompts.

Losing track of Meeting notes? Meet takes notes, translates captions in real time, and sends you AI-generated summaries when you’re done with the meeting.

But if you really want to see what Gemini can do, check out its standalone tools. These three stand out:

1. Gemini Gems is Google’s answer to OpenAI’s custom GPTs. You can design these with custom instructions and reference files. 

2. NotebookLM’s AI-generated podcast tool is all the rage, and it’s actually a really great way to consume dense reports or studies. It has interactive FAQs, summaries, and, yes, an audio summary of your content. Keep reading for more info on this one.

3. If you’re a little more technical, Google AI Studio lets you experiment with different Gemini models and build with the Gemini Developer API.

Google has transformed Gemini from an underwhelming demo into a genuinely useful AI assistant. Its new Workspace integrations streamline everyday tasks, and powerful standalone tools like Gems, NotebookLM, and AI Studio allow for more advanced workflows.

Check out all the Gemini features here.

Deep Research Will Save You Hours of Work

Forget endless Google searches—AI will handle it. 

Deep Research in Gemini Advanced scans the web, analyzes trends, reads research studies and compiles a full report so you can focus on decisions, not digging for data.

The new feature is dazzling the AI community, with Ethan Mollick, Grace Leung and Kieran Flangan raving about the results.

So what’s it good for? Here are a few use cases, if you are:

• Launching a new product and need competitor insights 

• Creating campaign benchmarking 

• Researching complex topics and don’t have time to dig through journals and studies

If you want access, you’ll need a Google Business Standard license and a bit of patience (it’s still rolling out).

Meanwhile, OpenAI just launched its own version—also called Deep Research (seriously?)—but locked it behind a $200/month Pro paywall.

Read more about Google’s Deep Research here.

AI That Reads, Summarizes, and Organizes for You

Remember all the buzz around NotebookLM last year? Google’s AI-powered platform Gemini is back—now upgraded with NotebookLM Plus, which gives you a smarter way to organize, analyze, and listen to your work.

Upload any file—documents, PDFs, videos, or audio—and let it:
✔ Summarize key insights in seconds
✔ Generate market research reports instantly
✔ Personalize responses based on your role
✔ Turn dense documents into podcast-style recaps

One of my favorite features is creating shared notebooks with training materials and FAQs to get new team members up to speed. It’s super interactive and personalized for each person.

NotebookLM Plus is rolling out now to Google Workspace Business and Enterprise Standard plans, with standalone access via Google Cloud.

You can read up on NotebookLM Plus on the Google blog.

This AI Turns Your News Into a Personalized Podcast

Google is all about the podcast style content these days. 

They’re testing a new AI feature called Daily Listen, which turns your Discover feed into a personalized five-minute podcast. This experimental tool (available at Google’s Search Labs) generates audio summaries based on your recent search history and news preferences.

Daily Listen curates trending articles, summarizes key points, and presents them in audio form. You can pause, rewind, and skip, and also view a transcript. 

Currently limited to U.S. Android and iOS users, there’s no confirmation yet on a wider rollout—but it could become a standard feature if testing mirrors the success of Google’s NotebookLM.

Curious how this might change your daily news updates? Read the full story here.

Mastering Google’s Gemini Just Got a Lot Easier

If you’ve been meaning to explore Gemini’s AI features in Workspace but don’t know where to start, Google has an easy-to-follow training module. The new Google Cloud Skills Boost training offers interactive courses that cover Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Drive.

Each course includes video lessons, hands-on activities, and real-life examples.

Here are a few of the use cases you’ll learn:

• Create AI-powered presentations in Slides

• Get automatic notes and summaries in Meet

• Use Gemini to organize and retrieve files in Drive

Whether you're new to AI or looking to refine your workflow, these free courses make it easy to turn Gemini into your personal productivity assistant. 

Ready to get started? Head over to the Google Cloud Skill Boost platform.