Google Launches Gemini 2.0 and Declares the "Agentic Era"

12 December 2024

Google has announced Gemini 2.0, starting with an experimental version of Gemini 2.0 Flash. The word Google keeps using is "agentic" — AI that doesn't just answer you, but takes actions on your behalf. Alongside the model, Google previewed research projects that can browse the web and complete multi-step tasks.

Translation, please

2024 was the year every big tech company gave you a chatbot. 2025, they're telling us, will be the year they give you an assistant — something you can hand a job to, rather than a question.

For Google, this matters commercially because Gemini is being threaded through the products millions of businesses already use: Search, Gmail, Docs, Sheets and the advertising platforms. You may never "choose" to use Gemini. It will simply appear in the tools on your desk.

What it means for smaller businesses

Two practical thoughts:

• The playing field keeps tilting toward the prepared. These tools reward people who know what they want done and can describe it clearly. That's a skill, and it's learnable.
• Your Google presence matters more, not less. As Google's AI answers more questions directly, the information it holds about your business — your Business Profile, your reviews, your website — becomes the raw material for those answers.

The chatbot era lasted about two years. The agent era is starting. Best not to be two years behind again.