Welcome to May's post announcing new training course launches and certification launches — helping equip you and your teams with the skills to work with AWS services and solutions. This month, we launched multiple new digital training products on AWS Skill Builder including Lab Maker, a new AI-powered learning experience that generates instant, personalized labs for popular AWS services; new and updated Microcredentials topics, as well as new classroom courses.

In this post, we explore how our newest AWS Jam experience can transform your BI capabilities through a unique combination of structured challenges and practical application. You'll discover the six real-world challenges you'll tackle and learn how this experience can accelerate your career growth in business intelligence and AI-powered analytics.

AWS Skill Builder now offers Lab Maker, a powerful new AI-powered feature that generates instant, personalized labs for popular AWS services. Simply describe what you want to build in natural language, and Lab Maker generates step-by-step guided instructions overlaid directly in a simulated AWS Management Console, helping you build practical cloud and AI skills at the moment you need them.

Welcome to April's post announcing new training course launches and certification launches — helping equip you and your teams with the skills to work with AWS services and solutions. Missed our March course update? Check it out here.  This month, we launched multiple new digital training products on AWS Skill Builder including localized exam prep materials in support of the Security - Specialty Exam. You’ll also want to check out the exciting announcement about microcredentials. 

Starting today, microcredentials are freely accessible to all builders. No AWS Skill Builder subscription required.

Small businesses are the backbone of the global economy. With 400 million SMBs worldwide and 36 million in the U.S. alone, they provide 50% of global employment. Now, with Google Cloud AI, they’re scaling faster, operating more efficiently, and delivering better results for their customers.  For years SMBs have been working with cutting edge products like Google Workspace, Google Ads, Search, YouTube, Maps, Google Wallet, and more to grow their business. Now, more SMBs are taking the first big steps in their AI journeys with our leading models and our agentic platform, Gemini Enterprise.  By making AI accessible to every employee, Gemini Enterprise serves as a launchpad for SMBs ready to develop an AI strategy and build new solutions to work smarter than ever before.Businesses are using AI to automate manual tasks and build custom solutions that extend their reach and help them better support their own customers.  We are proud to support these early milestones, and at Next we’re excited to showcase dozens of new customer partnerships with organizations taking their first steps toward an AI-driven future. Read on to explore their success stories and find our guide to the best SMB resources at Google Cloud Next ’26. How Gemini Enterprise helps SMBs solve complex challenges Across the globe, small and medium businesses are using AI to help grow their business. Here’s just a few of the many exciting examples of how SMBs are already benefiting from the secure, scalable, enterprise-grade tools in Gemini Enterprise: Apex Leaders, a US-based business services company, is using Gemini Enterprise to power an internal search engine, providing easy access to internal data sources and automated information summarization and content drafting for consultant teams. ARCHINERGY, a US based architecture firm, utilized Gemini Enterprise to create an AI agent that answers questions about architectural design and internal documentation, generating faster insights in just a fraction of the time compared to traditional search methods. Constructora Las Galias, a Colombia-based construction firm, is using Gemini Enterprise to power a centralized internal knowledge platform, providing streamlined sales and legal workflows and immediate employee access to critical business information. Eficode, which operates as a software development and DevOps firm within Finland, is using Gemini Enterprise to create a multi-platform support engine that quickly indexes complex internal wikis, so employees can provide customers with faster technical support Grant Thornton Chile, a leading audit and consulting firm, is using Gemini Enterprise to enhance its agile management by powering secure financial data validation, accelerating HR and sales questions, and enabling unified search across disparate document types. Grupo Ruiz, a leading Spanish company in sustainable mobility, uses Gemini Enterprise to improve team productivity and process efficiency, achieving an optimized workflow and greater data visibility Huge, an American business services agency, utilized Gemini Enterprise to create AI agents that automate market research and contract analysis, generating new business intake in just minutes compared to several days. Incrementa, a Chilean marketing company, is using Gemini Enterprise to automate client reporting and data analysis, helping it scale personalized service and boost campaign reach by 40%. Koufu, one of Singapore's largest food and beverage companies, which operates and manages a large network of food courts and coffee shops, is using Gemini Enterprise to automate sales reporting and BigQuery data analysis. This reduces spreadsheet bottlenecks so shop managers can focus on front-of-house service quality. La Maison du Whisky (whisky.fr), a specialized spirits and beverages retailer in France and internationally, chose Gemini Enterprise to create a 'Digital Sommelier' that transforms technical product data into high-end storytelling and marketing copy in seconds SAI360, a US-based software company, is using Gemini Enterprise to power the design, production, and localization of ethics training, achieving 99% faster course creation and a 95% reduction in training media production costs. Tauá Resorts group is using Gemini Enterprise to create an intelligent agent that generates real-time insights and dialogue suggestions. This technology allows the sales team to answer complex questions instantly, leveraging data from previous events to craft the perfect proposal for every client. Tirol, a leading dairy producer in Brazil, is using Gemini Enterprise to create an interactive knowledge base, providing democratized data access and enhanced visibility across its entire value chain. Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo leverages Gemini Enterprise to streamline digital planning, landscape, architecture and interior design workflows and visual queries, enabling the International Hospitality Design firm to accelerate the transitions from idea generation to design concepts and high-fidelity visualizations. Practical Resources for Lean Teams at Next ‘26 At Google Cloud Next 2026, we are showcasing how SMBs can enhance their impact by integrating AI into their daily workflows. For attendees focused on maximizing impact with focused resources, we have curated a dedicated track to help you navigate the AI era. When browsing the Session Library, use the Small IT Team filter to find deep dives into: Cost Optimization: How to deploy AI effectively and manage resources on a budget that’s right for your goals. Low-Code AI: Training on how to accelerate your business goals by building custom apps and agents. Adaptive Security: Proactive defense strategies designed to provide enterprise-grade protection regardless of your security team's size. Get Started Today If you can’t make every session, we’ve made it easy to keep the momentum going: The AI Starter Kit: A streamlined, four-step guide to deploying Cloud AI across your organization. Monthly AI Newsletter: Sign up to receive the latest industry highlights and Cloud AI updates all year long. Check out the full SMB guide here and start planning your itinerary. See you there!

Our new GEAR program, powered by Google Skills, equips every professional with the hands-on AI training needed to build and launch enterprise-ready agents at scale. Anyone can join GEAR for access to AI training and more, including: 35 monthly learning credits to use towards courses and hands-on labs in Google Skills Discord community access to connect with peers Curated agentic news and resources from Google Google Cloud customers can join the Get Certified program to prepare for Google Cloud certifications at no cost If you really want to get hands on with GEAR, we’re excited to share that it will also have a major presence at Google Cloud Next ‘26. We’ve integrated GEAR throughout the event, making  it easy for you and your teams to build skills on site and jumpstart your GEAR journey through new mini-labs, learning paths, and hands-on workshops from the experts at Google. Next learning experiences you can’t miss Next will feature the latest new GEAR learning paths, available on Google Skills, including: Introduction to Agents and Google’s Agent Ecosystem; Develop Agents with Agent Development Kit (ADK); Deploy Production-Ready Agents; and Scale Agents Across the Enterprise. We also have a collection of exciting areas where you can engage with GEAR programming. The Skills Challenge: Your on-the-ground gamified experience. With more than 20 activities designed to help you get the most out of Next, you can join thousands of players, rise up the leaderboard, and earn exclusive swag. Google Skills Zone: Choose your own learning adventure. Drop in for 10- to 15-minute mini-labs, complete an AI Boost Bites lesson to gain new AI skills, or deep dive into technical workshops inspired by our premium learning services and Google Skills content. Real-world, immersive sessions: Step into specialized two-hour labs where you’ll build analytics agents to analyze sports data from Major League Baseball or McLaren. Everything you learn can be applied to your own business challenges, too.   Breakouts: Join our expert-led sessions and panel discussions featuring real-world customer stories. Don’t miss these stand-out sessions (you can even add them to your Next agenda): AI upskilling strategies from the world's most innovative retailers featuring Wayfair and Woolworths Scale your workforce with AI: Real-world lessons with Salesforce, Palo Alto Networks, and EVERSANA Building an agent-ready workforce Bridging the gap: Scaling AI readiness with Google certifications “GEAR does a great job introducing developers to the fundamentals of building AI agents and agentic systems. As someone working with enterprise platforms, I especially appreciate how it helps developers move beyond simple prompts to think in terms of tools, workflows, and scalable agent architectures.” – Jitendra Gupta, Google Developer Expert Jumpstart your learning with GEAR and Google Skills today Don't wait until Google Cloud Next. Stop prototyping and start shipping, today. Sign up for GEAR to get no-cost access to agentic training and more on Google Skills.

This blog post explores why PostgreSQL matters, how AWS supports the PostgreSQL community, and how you can build your expertise through AWS Skill Builder while earning a digital badge to showcase your skills.

The AWS AI & ML Scholars program powered by AWS Skill Builder expands access to foundational AI education and upskilling for students and aspiring technologists who may have had limited access to this kind of training. Applications are open through June 24, 2026, for learners 18 years or older who want to build a career in AI through project-based learning. No prior experience is required, just your curiosity and commitment to build on AWS.

To help developers and engineers gain skills employers are seeking, we're excited to announce new AWS and JetBrains Skill Paths: Build and Deploy Custom LLMs with Python and AWS and From ML to GenAI: Building Real-World Apps on AWS. These two Skill Paths arm you with practical AI and ML skills.

Welcome to March's post announcing new training course launches and certification launches — helping equip you and your teams with the skills to work with AWS services and solutions. This month, we launched multiple new digital training products on AWS Skill Builder including two new microcredentials topics, three new AWS Builder Labs, one new AWS Builder Labs Learning Plan, as well as localized exam prep materials in support of the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer - Associate (SOA-C03), AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer - Associate (SOA-C03), and AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Professional (AIP-C01) Certification exams. In addition, registration is now open for the standard exam version of the AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Professional certification — offering a great opportunity to validate your expertise in foundation models, RAG architectures, and responsible AI deployment.

Hey builders! Stop typing, and start interacting! We are moving beyond the text box. The future of AI is all about immersive, real-time experiences. To celebrate multimodal AI, we’re challenging you to build the next generation of agents that can help you see, hear, speak, and create in the Gemini Live Agent Challenge. Build multimodal AI agents in the Gemini Live Agent Challenge Build Multimodal AI agents in the Gemini Live Agent Challenge Why join? Hands-on learning with Gemini Live API: This is your shot to build the future of immersive AI agents on Google Cloud. We have everything you need to get started: Quickstarts, tutorials, access to the Agent Development Kit (ADK), and webinars hosted by our experts. Showcase your skills: You’ll have the opportunity to break out of the traditional "text box" paradigm. Choose from three exciting categories—The Live Agent, The Creative Storyteller, or The UI Navigator—to demonstrate the power of your solution . Think you have what it takes to win? Build a solution to showcase your multimodal agent and you could potentially win a share of $80,000 in prizes: Overall grand prize: A trip to Google Cloud Next ’26 in Las Vegas (includes tickets, a travel stipend, and a chance to present on stage), $25,000 in USD, $3,000 in Google Cloud Credits for use with a Cloud Billing Account, virtual coffee with a Google Cloud team member, and the potential opportunity to be featured on our social channels. Category winners: A trip to Google Cloud Next ’26 in Las Vegas (includes tickets), $10,000 in USD, $1,000 in Google Cloud Credits for use with a Cloud Billing Account, virtual coffee with a Google Cloud team member, and the potential opportunity to be featured on our social channels. Subcategory winners: $5,000 in USD and $500 in Google Cloud Credits for use with a Cloud Billing Account Honorable mentions: $2,000 in USD and $500 in Google Cloud Credits for use with a Cloud Billing Account Dig into Multimodal AI Your mission is to build and deploy an AI agent on Google Cloud that utilizes multimodal inputs and outputs. We want you to go beyond the traditional text-in/text-out approach. Whether you are building a real-time translator or a visual web navigator, your agent should interpret the world around it. Here is some inspiration: The live agent: Build an agent we can talk to naturally that handles interruptions gracefully. Think real-time translators, vision-enabled tutors, and more. The creative storyteller: Blend text, images, audio, and video into one seamless experience. Imagine building an interactive storybook or a full marketing asset generator in a single workflow. The UI navigator: Create a helping hand that interprets visual screens. Maybe you want to create a universal web navigator or a visual QA tester that performs actions based on user intent. Crucial note: Your project must use a Gemini model (like Gemini 3 or Nano Banana) and the Gen AI SDK or Agent Development Kit (ADK). Lastly, you must use at least one Google Cloud service, such as Firestore, CloudSQL, Cloud Run, or Vertex AI. Ready to start building? Head over to our hackathon website to register, watch the kickoff video, and review the official rules. Submissions are open until March 16, 2026. Register for the Gemini Live Agent Challenge

Using AI effectively isn’t just a nice-to-have skill—it’s essential for career growth, team and organizational success. AWS generative AI tools are optimizing workflows and spearheading new opportunities for groundbreaking innovations. It’s time to be more productive with generative AI and AWS The new AWS Generative AI Essentials course (now live on Coursera and edX) is

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to learn new skills in AI and more. Given the growing skills gap, our research with Ipsos shows that 70% of professionals set a goal to boost their knowledge in AI, machine learning, and generative AI over the next two years. Crucially, 65% prefer learning directly from industry experts to get relevant guidance. Why not use this holiday season to invest in yourself? Explore no cost courses and hands-on labs from Google Cloud experts, available on Google Skills. We’ve designed these trainings for everyone. You’ll find hands-on labs for technical practitioners, strategic courses for leaders driving AI adoption, tutorials and primers for non-technical workers and skill badges to showcase the skills you’ve attained. There’s lots to explore on Google Skills, though knowing how busy everyone is — especially during the holiday season — we wanted to highlight a dozen promising courses and labs below for both technical and general learners. aside_block <ListValue: [StructValue([('title', 'The gift of no-cost AI learning'), ('body', <wagtail.rich_text.RichText object at 0x7f9f02733790>), ('btn_text', ''), ('href', ''), ('image', None)])]> For technical learners Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, these hands-on labs and courses give you the knowledge to apply AI immediately in your projects. You’ll learn practical applications — from fine-tuning models to deploying remote agents — and enjoy the gift of 35 free monthly credits. The best part? Our labs provide a sandbox environment so you can learn Google Cloud skills using the real thing. 1. Kickstarting Application Development with Gemini Code Assist (5 credits): Earn a skill badge in this course, where you’ll learn to use the power of Google’s AI coding assistant and multiple development technologies. 2. Get Started with Vibe Coding and Gemini CLI (3 credits): This lab explores Vibe coding, which uses AI to generate code from natural language to help you speed up your development and focus on the big picture. Keep going to earn the Build a Smart Cloud Application with Vibe Coding and MCP skill badge. 3. Use Model Context Protocol (MCP) Tools with ADK Agents (7 credits): This lab explores the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard for integrating external services, data, tools, and applications. You’ll learn to integrate MCP into ADK agents, from the Agent Development Kit, to improve your workflows. 4. Streamline App Development with Gemini Code Assist (no credits required): This course covers the core features of Gemini Code Assist — like intelligent code suggestions and real-time error detection. You’ll boost your productivity and improve code quality, saving time for more enjoyable tasks. 5. Google Cloud AI Infrastructure (no credits required): This learning path offers on-demand courses in AI infrastructure for intermediate to advanced learners. You’ll gain the skills to design and deploy high-performance AI and machine learning solutions using powerful tools like the AI Hypercomputer and Google Kubernetes Engine.  6. Supervised Fine-tuning for Gemini (2 credits): Learn to fine-tune Gemini models for specific tasks to improve the quality and efficiency of model outputs. You’ll get an overview of model tuning, Gemini options, usage, and execution. 7. Connect to Remote Agents with ADK and the Agent2Agent (A2A) SDK (7 credits): Deploy an ADK Agent as an A2A server, and use a JSON Agent Card to describe its capabilities. You’ll also enable another ADK agent as a sub-agent for complex tasks. For non-technical learners You don’t need to be a developer to use generative AI to boost your productivity. You’ll see exactly how gen AI is transforming every business role and get the skills you need to succeed — the ultimate holiday treat. 1. Generative AI Leader | Beyond the Chat Bot (no credits required): Start with "Beyond the Chat Bot," covering Google Cloud AI tools like Gemini Advanced and NotebookLM. Then test and validate your gen AI knowledge with the Google Cloud Generative AI Leader certification exam. 2. Introduction to Gemini Enterprise (no credits required): You’ll explore Gemini Enterprise, a powerful platform that uses AI agents, enterprise search, NotebookLM and intelligent data access to solve organizational challenges. You’ll connect its capabilities to business needs, describe its architecture, and explain its data access and privacy handling. 3. Google AI Essentials (no credits required): Enhance your productivity across all roles and industries by gaining essential AI skills. This course teaches you how to use AI to generate ideas and content, assist with research, and speed up daily tasks like drafting email responses. Learn directly from Google AI experts how to use AI responsibly, and earn a certificate upon completion. 4. AI Boost Bites | Amplify Exec Voices with AI (no credits required): Transform your daily work with practical, hands-on lessons from Google AI experts with short, 10-minute lessons. Start with the first lesson to learn how to drive real business results, fast. 5. Future-Proof Your AI Learning Strategy (no credits required): Continuous learning is key, especially in this rapidly evolving age of AI. This course shows you how to use Google Skills to help future-proof your organization. You’ll get ready-made materials, custom experiences, and blended learning strategies for positive returns. Start your learning journey today with our generative AI content on Google Skills.

For too long, network data analysis has felt less like a science and more like deciphering cryptic clues. To help close that gap, we’re introducing a new Mandiant Academy course from Google Cloud, designed to replace frustration with clarity and confidence. Protecting the Perimeter: Practical Network Enrichment focuses on the key skills necessary to transform network traffic analysis from a daunting task into a powerful, precise security asset. We’ve designed the course specifically for cybersecurity professionals who need to quickly and effectively enhance network traffic analysis skills. You’ll learn to cut through the noise, identify malicious fingerprints with higher accuracy, and fortify your organization's defenses by integrating critical cyber threat intelligence (CTI). What you’ll learn This track includes four courses that provide practical methods to analyze networks and operationalize CTI. Students will explore five proven methodologies to network analysis:  Packet capture (PCAP) Network flow (netflow) Protocol analysis Baseline and behavioral Historical analysis Incorporating common tools, we demonstrate how to enrich each methodology adding CTI, and how analytical tradecraft enhances investigations. The first course, Decoding Network Defense, refreshes foundational CTI principles and the five core network traffic analysis methodologies. The second course, Analyzing the Digital Battlefield, investigates PCAP, netflow, and protocol before exploring how CTI enriches new evidence. In the third course, Insights into Adversaries, students learn to translate complex human behaviors into detectable signatures. The final course, The Defender's Arsenal, introduces essential tools for those on the frontline, protecting their network’s perimeter. Who should attend this course? “Protecting the Perimeter” was developed for practitioners whose daily work is to interpret network telemetry from multiple data sources and identify anomalous behavior.This track’s format is designed for professionals who possess enough knowledge and skill to defend networks, but have limited time to continue education and enhance their abilities. This training track is the second release from Mandiant Academy’s new approach to on-demand training which concentrates complex security concepts into short-form courses. Sign up today To learn more about and register for the course, please visit the Mandiant Academy website. You can also access Mandiant Academy's on-demand, instructor-led, and experiential training options. We hope this course proves helpful in your efforts to defend your organization against cyber threats.

Understanding malware functionality and analysis processes can be a thorny ball of string. To help IT and information security professionals, corporate investigators, and anyone else get started in pursuing malware analysis as a primary specialty, Mandiant Academy’s new "Basic Static and Dynamic Analysis" course can help enhance your binary triage toolkit.  This course also provides critical core skills for digital forensics, threat research, and threat hunting. It offers practical techniques for static and dynamic analysis of malicious files, requiring minimal prerequisites.  This is a hands-on course that puts participants on the front lines with realistic malware threats and the tools to understand them. Students will use a provided Virtual Machine to analyze and create their own controlled malware detonation environment. Learn static analysis by exploring the Portable Executable (PE) file format, extracting metadata, and identifying relevant strings. Master dynamic analysis by observing malware in controlled environments, monitoring system events and network traffic, and unpacking/dumping running processes.  Students will gain the ability to triage malicious compiled Windows PE files, improving their understanding of suspicious alerts and files. After completing this course, participants should be able to: Explain the basics of malware analysis and Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)  Describe how malware analysis and IOCs fit into the investigative process Create a safe environment to examine and execute malware samples without risk to systems or networks Triage malware using hands-on basic static and dynamic analysis techniques  The course consists of the following modules, with labs included throughout the instruction. Basic Static Analysis - An overview of the techniques, concepts, and tools needed to efficiently analyze malware without execution as well as a thorough introduction to the structure of the PE file format and its most commonly examined artifacts. This module also covers string data types, hashing and hash collisions, data encoding and encryption, and binary packing. Basic Dynamic Analysis - An overview of the tools and strategies needed to analyze malware in a controlled execution environment, including host activity monitoring and network interception, memory capture, and file and registry change detection. While programming experience isn't required, some knowledge in this area is beneficial. A strong background in computer science theory isn't necessary, but a basic understanding of binary data and hexadecimal values is recommended, as is expert familiarity with operating system usage fundamentals such as using the command line, understanding executable file types, and basic programming concepts such as functions, variables, source code and compilation. Sign up today To learn more about Basic Static and Dynamic Analysis or to attend the course, please visit our website. You can access a wealth of knowledge through Mandiant Academy's on-demand, instructor-led, and experiential training options. We hope this course proves helpful in your efforts to defend your organization against cyber threats.

Protecting your organization from cyber threats is essential for ensuring smooth operations and meeting compliance requirements. Specialized defense has become more urgent as sensitive data and critical applications have migrated to the cloud. Security is no longer about perimeter firewalls; it’s about securing dynamic cloud networks. Recognizing the increasing demand for skilled cloud security professionals, Google Cloud is launching a new Network Security Learning Path that culminates in the Designing Network Security in Google Cloud advanced skill badge. This comprehensive program, designed by our experts, equips you with the validated skills needed to protect sensitive data and applications, ensure business continuity, and drive growth. Earning the Designing Network Security in Google Cloud skill badge can be a powerful catalyst for career advancement. According to an Ipsos study commissioned by Google Cloud, 70% of learners said that cloud learning has contributed to their goal of getting promoted, and 76% said their income has increased since they started using Google Cloud Learning Services. A complete learning journey More than just a single course, this new learning path is a complete journey that focuses on solutions based learning for networking, infrastructure or security roles. You learn how to design, build, and manage secure networks to protect your data and applications and validate your proficiency in handling real-world scenarios, such as next-gen firewall policy violations and data exfiltration. Completing the path earns you the Designing Network Security in Google Cloud skill badge.  You’ll learn how to: Design and implement secure network topologies, from building secure VPC networks to locking down Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) environments.  Master Google Cloud Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) to configure precise firewall rules and networking policies, giving you full control over traffic flow. Establish secure connectivity across different environments with Cloud VPN and Cloud Interconnect. Enhance your defenses using Google Cloud Armor for a layered approach to WAF and DDoS protection. Apply granular identity and access management (IAM) permissions for network resources. Extend these principles to secure complex hybrid and multicloud architectures. Empowering you to secure your future This learning path can be your answer to the persistent cybersecurity skills gap. It can empower you to build the skills needed for the next generation of network security.  To earn the skill badge, at the end of the path you’ll tackle a hands-on, break-fix challenge lab that validates your proficiency in handling real-world scenarios like firewall policy violations and data exfiltration. Get the skills to confidently protect your organization’s cloud network by enrolling in the Google Cloud Network Security Learning Path today.

From the classroom to the boardroom, the world of work is shifting at an incredible pace. As advancements in AI and cloud computing gather speed, it's not just about adapting — it's about discovering powerful new ways to thrive, regardless of your role.To help everyone keep up, we're announcing three major updates to our learning programs, timed with the launch today of Gemini Enterprise.A new platform, Google Skills, that will bring together nearly 3,000 courses and labs in one place — including content from across Google Cloud, Google DeepMind, Grow with Google and Google for Education.A new initiative, the Gemini Enterprise Agent Ready (GEAR) program, aims to empower one million developers to start building enterprise-ready AI agents with our new Gemini Enterprise platform.A partnership with the financial services company Jack Henry to help hire skilled individuals quickly as part of our skills-based hiring initiative. aside_block <ListValue: [StructValue([('title', 'Get 150 free learning credits'), ('body', <wagtail.rich_text.RichText object at 0x7f9f01d39610>), ('btn_text', ''), ('href', ''), ('image', None)])]> With these updates, we’re delivering on our commitment to help everyone access the AI learning they need — including our Google Cloud customers in search of skilled developers. What’s new for Google Cloud learners, customers and partners on Google Skills?To support people at all skill levels — from students to developers to executives — we’re introducing Google Skills. This new learning platform is designed to help people develop the skills they need to be successful in today’s job landscape, and to enable businesses to find and develop the talent they need to thrive. In the last year alone, people have completed more than 26 million courses, labs and credentials — and now they’re all in one place.In addition to content from across Google — like new AI research courses from Google DeepMind — this launch brings with it a host of new content for our Cloud customers to keep them on the cutting edge of AI skill building: 1. Gemini Code Assist: AI-powered learning and new skill badgesGemini Code Assist will help engineers, developers, data scientists and more jump right into coding with Gemini without leaving the Google Skills platform. It’s been enabled in more than 20 hands-on labs and will be part of all relevant labs going forward. And developers can also prove Gemini Code Assist skills by earning a new skill badge: Kickstarting Application Development with Gemini Code Assist. We’re also meeting the vibe-coding moment with two new skill badges for app devs: Building a Smart Cloud Application with Vibe Coding & MCP establishes foundational knowledge and practical skills in Model Context Protocol server development and vibe coding on Google Cloud. Deploy an Agent with Agent Development Kit empowers devs to build advanced AI systems where different AI parts work together smoothly, using common methods like the Model Context Protocol, Agent-to-Agent protocol and Agent Development Kit.2. A better experience for Google Cloud customers and organizationsYou asked. We listened. As part of Google Skills, we’ve kept the best of Google Cloud Skills Boost, while adding features you’ve been waiting for on the all-new Google Skills platform. For example, Cloud customers will continue to have access to the entire Google Cloud content library for free, now including new content from Google DeepMind.We’ve also added a new feature that lets you assign the most relevant courses and hands-on labs to your teams. This personalization benefits your business and accelerates your team’s ability to innovate. Plus, you can now use company leaderboards — customized for your organization — that spark friendly competition and add a dose of fun. And finally, for Google Skills admins, we’ll be adding features to make reporting more advanced. That means more data, more flexibility and more insights that let you keep track of your team’s progress in real time.3. Cloud learning has never been more fun: new gamified featuresFor organizations, Google Skills makes it easier to keep your teams engaged and up to date. This is key: 74% of decision makers agree that technical learning resources improve employee productivity, and 71% of organizations realize revenue gains after engaging with these resources.1 In other words, more learning is a universal boon to business.But learning alone isn’t enough. It needs to be fun, engaging and easy to fit into your schedule. That’s why we’re bringing new AI-powered and gamification features to Google Skills to make learning more effective. Gamified features:Leagues: Encourage friendly competition based on earned points with this dashboard widget.Achievements: Celebrate your learning milestones with new visuals and easy options for social sharing.Learning streaks: Promote consistent learning habits through bonus points and "streak freezes."GEAR: A new sprint to empower one million developersToday, we’re also announcing the Gemini Enterprise Agent Ready (GEAR) program, a new educational sprint designed to empower one million developers on our new agentic platform, Gemini Enterprise. Through a cohort-based approach, we will help them build, deploy and manage agents, and as part of GEAR, developers can earn skill badges through Google Skills.A direct path to employment; a faster way to hireBuilding skills isn’t just good for individual careers — it’s also good for business. That’s why with Google Skills, we're making it easier for people to get the skills employers are looking for, and for companies to find the talent they need to succeed.Today, we’re announcing that for those who complete a Google Cloud Certificate in cybersecurity or data analytics in the U.S., there's now a direct pathway to an interview with leading financial services firm Jack Henry. You'll get to complete custom, hands-on labs that simulate the company’s real-world scenarios. These labs act as the first stage of the company's hiring process, giving you a tangible way to showcase your skills and land a new job. We're excited to expand the model to more Google Cloud customers in the future.“We are excited for our collaboration with Google Cloud to reimagine talent acquisition. By leveraging Google Cloud Certificates, we have been able to more effectively identify and recruit top talent, helping to fuel our growth to fill critical skill gaps.” - Holly Novak, Chief People Officer, Jack HenryThis initiative is especially important because businesses are actively looking for talent. A recent study found that 82% prefer to recruit and hire professionals who hold these credentials.2For Google Cloud customers interested in bringing on skilled individuals to your company, learn more about the program here.We’re just getting started. Whether you’re an individual looking to get hired or a business leader aiming to upskill your teams, there’s something for everyone to thrive in this new world of AI.__________________________________________________________________________________________1 Google/Ipsos, Cloud Learning Services Market Pulse, Quantitative Portion Fielded Sept-Oct 2024, Qualitative Portion Fielded Oct-Nov 2024, (U.S., U.K., FR, DE, IN, BR, MX, JP, AU/N.Z.)2 Google/Ipsos, Cloud Learning Services Market Pulse, Quantitative Portion Fielded Sept-Oct 2024, Qualitative Portion Fielded Oct-Nov 2024, (U.S., U.K., FR, DE, IN, BR, MX, JP, AU/N.Z.)

Startups are using agentic AI to automate complex workflows, create novel user experiences, and solve business problems that were once considered technically impossible. Still, charting the optimal path forward — especially with the integration of AI agents — often presents significant technical complexityTo help startups navigate this new landscape, we’re launching our Startup technical guide: AI agents. It provides a systematic, operations-driven roadmap for embracing the potential of agentic systems.What does this potential look like? AI agents combine the intelligence of advanced AI models with access to tools so they can take actions on your behalf, under your control. Unlike traditional AI, agentic AI can break down intricate tasks, refine plans, and dynamically utilize external resources and tools. The key takeaway is that AI agents can tackle complex, multi-step problems, ultimately transforming from a passive tool into a proactive problem-solver.If your startup is looking to get in on the agentic AI action, here are some initial steps to consider. And when you’re ready to get building, you can get more details in our guide or even reach out to one of our AI experts at Google Cloud.Choose your path: Build, use, or integrateEvery startup’s journey is unique, which is why Google Cloud offers a flexible agent ecosystem that supports the comprehensive development of agentic systems. You can:Build your own agents: For teams that require a high degree of control over agent behavior, the open-source Agent Development Kit (ADK) is your go-to development framework. ADK is built for a custom, code-first approach, empowering developers to build, manage, evaluate, and deploy AI-powered agents. For an application-first approach, Gemini Enterprise orchestrates your entire AI workforce and empowers non-technical team members to build custom agents using a no-code designer.Use Google Cloud agents: With rapid prototyping and easy ways to integrate AI into your existing apps, managed agents let you focus on core business logic rather than managing infrastructure. Gemini Code Assist is an AI-powered assistant for developers, while Gemini Cloud Assist is an AI expert for your Google Cloud environment.Bring in partner agents: For more specialized use cases, you can easily integrate third-party or open-source agents into your stack via the Google Cloud Marketplace. You can also explore the Agent Garden to deploy prebuilt ADK agents that already support data reasoning and inter-agent collaboration.No matter which path you choose, our ecosystem is designed for interoperability, built on open standards like the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol. 4 steps for building your first agentThe Startups technical guide: AI agents provides a complete roadmap for building production-ready AI agents. Here’s four core steps we’ve identified that can help define your first agent, using Agent Development Kit (ADK).Step 1: Give your agent an identityFirst, define your agent's core identity. You’ll want to give it a unique name for logging and delegation, a clear description of its capabilities so other agents can route tasks to it, and identify the right AI foundation model (like Gemini 2.5 Pro or Gemma) to power its reasoning. Precision here is critical. The model you’re using treats every part of this definition as a prompt, and vague descriptions can lead to "context poisoning," causing the agent to pursue incorrect goals.Step 2: Write the “prime directive" with instructionsNext, give your agent its "prime directive" using the instruction parameter. This is where you define its persona, core objectives, and do's and don'ts. Effective instructions clearly specify the desired outcomes for your agent, provide examples for complex tasks (e.g. few-shot prompting), and guide the agent on how to use its tools.Step 3: Grant superpowers with toolsTransform your agent from a pure conversationalist into a system that can take action by equipping it with functions to call external APIs, search databases, or interact with other systems. In doing so, you grant it broader capabilities. For example, a bug assistant agent uses tools to fetch user details from a CRM or create a ticket in a project management system. Since the agent chooses which tool to use based on its name and description, making them clear and unique is crucial to avoid looping behaviors or incorrect actions.Step 4: Master the lifecycle: test, deploy, operateBuilding an agent is a continuous cycle, not a one-off task. Because agentic systems are non-deterministic, standard unit tests are insufficient. Our guide shows you how to evaluate an agent’s "trajectory" — its step-by-step reasoning — to ensure quality and reliability. This operational rigor, which we call AgentOps, is key to confidently deploying your agent on platforms like Vertex AI Agent Engine or Cloud Run and operating it safely in production. Agents already in actionStartups are constantly innovating their agentic journeys , here’s a look at two startups that use Google Cloud's models and architecture to run their agentic systems:Actionable insights for better employee engagementWotter, a provider of next-generation Employee Engagement solutions, seeks to better understand what employees want and empower organizations with the insights they need to get the best out of their people by asking the right question to the right person at the right time.Gemini 2.5 Flash was the right foundation model for Wotter’s smart assistant, blending speed with long-context reasoning. Wotter’s Flash models use agentic methods to manage extensive and ongoing sources of data, such as employee interactions and feedback, while still responding to queries on this data in seconds - and at a lower cost per query.Eliminate a long-standing legal industry pain pointAs people in the legal industry know too well, complex document reviews can ruin nights and weekends while turning focus away from strategic work. Enter Harvey, which is equipping legal professionals with domain-specific AI to maximize efficiency and keep legal professionals’ attention on activities that move the needle for their firms and clients.Harvey evaluated several foundation models and ultimately found that Gemini 2.5 Pro achieved the leading score of 85.02% on its BigLaw Bench benchmark, the first of its kind to represent complex legal tasks. Gemini 2.5 Pro showcased strong reasoning across inputs consisting of hundreds of pages of materials—a common scenario in legal work. The model then used these materials to generate longer-form and comprehensive outputs, enabling deeper insights and analyses.These core capabilities proved Gemini 2.5 Pro’s potential across complex legal work that requires reasoning over large sets of documents to support diligence, review, and use case drafting. Further, Vertex AI provides the stringent security and privacy guarantees that build trust in the Harvey platform among clientele. Gemini and Vertex AI are now an important part of Harvey’s vision for future product development.Build what's next, fasterThe Startup technical guide: AI agents provides the blueprint your team needs to turn your vision into a production-ready reality. By using a code-first framework like ADK and the operational principles in this guide, you can move beyond informal “vibe-testing” to a rigorous, reliable process for building and managing your agent’s entire lifecycle. For your startup, this disciplined approach becomes a powerful competitive advantage.No matter where you are with AI adoption, we are here to help. Contact our Startup team today and you could get up to $350,000 USD in cloud credits with the Google for Startups Cloud Program,

Getting ahead — and staying ahead — of the demand for AI skills isn’t just key for those looking for a new role. Research shows proving your skills through credentials drives promotion, salary increase, leadership opportunities and more. And 8 in 10 Google Cloud learners feel our training helps them stay ahead in the age of AI.1 This is why we are so focused on providing new AI training content ensuring you have the tools to keep up in this ever-evolving space. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce a new suite of Google Cloud AI training courses. These courses are designed with intermediate and advanced technical learners in mind for roles such as Cloud Infrastructure Engineers, Cloud Architects, AI Engineers and MLOps Engineers, AI Developers and Data Scientists. Whether you're looking to build and manage powerful AI infrastructure, master the art of fine-tuning generative AI models, leverage serverless AI inference, or secure your AI deployments, we've got you covered. For cloud infrastructure engineers, cloud architects, AI engineers and MLOps engineers: AI infrastructure mini courses are your guide to designing, deploying and managing the high-performance infrastructure that powers modern AI. You’ll gain a deep understanding of Google’s TPU and GPU platforms, and learn to use Google Compute Engine (GCE) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) as a robust foundation for any AI workload you can imagine. For machine learning engineers, data scientists and AI developers: Build AI Agents with Databases on Google Cloud teaches you how to securely connect AI agents to your existing enterprise databases. You'll learn to craft agents that perform intelligent querying and semantic search, design and implement advanced multi-step workflows, and deploy and operationalize these powerful AI applications. This course is essential for building robust and reliable AI agents that can leverage your most critical data. Supervised fine-tuning for Gemini educates you on how to take Google’s powerful models and make them your own by customizing them for your specific tasks, enhancing their quality and efficiency so they deliver precisely what you and your users need.  Cloud Run for AI Inference teaches you how to deploy those innovations with incredible speed and scale of serverless AI workloads. You'll learn how to handle demanding AI workloads, including lightweight LLMs, and leverage GPU acceleration, ensuring your creations reach your audience efficiently and reliably. Security engineers, security analysts: Model Armor: Securing AI Deployments equips you with the knowledge to protect your generative AI applications from critical risks like data leakage and prompt injection. It’s the essential step to ensuring your innovations can be leveraged with confidence. For individual developers, business analysts, and other non-technical users:  Develop AI-Powered Prototypes in Google AI Studio shows you how to use Google AI Studio, our developer playground for the Gemini API, to quickly sketch and test your ideas. Through hands-on labs and tutorials, you’ll learn how to prototype apps with little upfront setup and create custom models without needing extensive coding expertise. It’s the perfect way to turn a concept into a working model, ensuring your final structure is built on a tested and innovative design. Start learning Building a career in AI is about creating a future where you feel empowered and prepared, no matter how the landscape changes. We believe these courses provide the tools and the confidence to do just that. Explore our new AI courses on Google Cloud Skills Boost today, and start building for your future. 1. Google/Ipsos, Cloud Learning Services Market Pulse, Fielded Sept 17th - October 23rd 2024 (US, UK, FR, DE, IN, BR, MX, JP, AU/NZ)