Google’s annual developer conference last week delivered some more AI surprises. 900 million people now use the Gemini app every month. AI Mode in Google Search has hit 1 billion monthly users in just a year. And Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, used the word “agentic” more times than I could count.
Google I/O ran on the 19th and 20th of May, and there was a lot to take in.
So today I’m sharing my top 5 takeaways from the event.
#1 AI has hit critical mass
The headline numbers from the keynote are extraordinary. The Gemini app jumped from 400 million users a year ago to over 900 million today. That’s more than doubled in twelve months. AI Mode in Search, which only launched last year, has already reached 1 billion monthly users. And Google is now processing 3.2 quadrillion tokens a month across its surfaces, up 7 times from a year ago. Tokens are the small chunks of text or data that AI models work with. To put that volume in context, Google’s APIs alone are now handling 19 billion tokens every minute. This is the moment we stop talking about AI adoption as a forecast and start treating it as a fact.
#2 Gemini Omni. One model, any output you ask for
Google unveiled a new model called Gemini Omni. The pitch is striking. Give it any kind of input, text, image, video, or all three, and ask it to generate any kind of output. It’s starting with video. The first model in the family, Gemini Omni Flash, is available today inside the Gemini app, on Google Flow, and on YouTube Shorts. Image and text outputs are coming next. For communications and marketing teams, this matters. The gap between an idea and a piece of polished content keeps shrinking. The differentiator is no longer who can produce content. It’s who can produce content that’s strategic, accurate, and on brand.
#3 Gemini 3.5 Flash. AI that does, not just answers
This is the model release that signals where the industry is going. Pichai described Gemini 3.5 Flash as the first in a new series combining what he called “frontier intelligence with action.” It’s 4 times faster on output speed than other frontier models and comparable in capability. But the real story is the second word, action. Flash is not just an answering machine. It can plan, reason through long tasks, and execute. Google is so confident in it that Pichai claimed companies could save over a billion dollars a year by shifting 80% of their AI workloads from other frontier models to Flash. Whether that holds up commercially or not, the direction of travel is clear. We are moving from AI you talk to, to AI that does the work.
#4 Gemini Spark. Your 24/7 personal agent
If you’ve been wondering what an AI agent actually looks like for a normal person, this is it. Gemini Spark is being pitched as your personal agent that runs in the cloud, not on your laptop. It’s available around the clock. You give it a task, you close your computer, you go to bed. It keeps working. It will plug into your email, your chat, your tools, and over time, the rest of the web. The Beta arrives for Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US next week. Spark is the consumer face of what Google is calling its agentic era. And the moment Spark, or its rivals from Anthropic and OpenAI, become mainstream, the way we all work changes.
#5 The agentic era is officially here
Pichai closed the keynote with this line. “It’s clear we’re firmly in our agentic Gemini era.” That’s not marketing fluff. Across the keynote, Google announced agents in Search, agents in Shopping, agents in the Gemini app, and a whole platform called Antigravity 2.0 for businesses that want to build their own. Every major AI company is now racing to deliver the same thing, AI that takes action on your behalf. If 2024 was the year of generative AI and 2025 was the year of reasoning, 2026 is the year of agents.
Here’s what struck me watching the keynote back. Google did not spend much time on what it costs the rest of us. We are about to live through the fastest workflow shift in a generation. The professionals and the organisations that win this year will not be the ones with the most subscriptions. They will be the ones who understand how to direct these agents, set the right tasks, check the output, and know when to override. AI literacy has just moved from a nice-to-have to a non-negotiable. If you’re not building your skills now, you will be working alongside people who are. And they will be moving faster.
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About the Podcast Host
AI and Communications Specialist | Author | Podcaster | International Speaker
Joanne Sweeney is a recognised leader in digital marketing and digital transformation, specialising in the practical application of AI to enhance communication strategies. The founder of Digital Training Institute, Joanne, empowers leaders and communications professionals to leverage AI responsibly and effectively, ensuring transparency, trust, and tangible results.
She completed the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Programme in AI and Public Policy this summer before launching her fourth book AI Playbook, in September. Joanne has also published two editions of Public Sector Marketing Pro, which were preceded by her first title, Social Media Under Investigation Law Enforcement and the Social Web.
Her books have become go-to resources for governments, public sector and policing agencies, as well as marketing and communications professionals, all navigating the challenges of the changing Internet.
Joanne is the host of the AI SIX Podcast, a daily six-minute podcast that provides actionable insights, expert interviews, and practical advice to help professionals navigate the new world of work.
