Google upgrades all Gemini side panels in Workspace to have the same features

Gemini in Google Workspace can now “complete complex, cross-app tasks” from whatever app you’re working in.

Previously, the Gemini side panels found in each Workspace app had capabilities specific to that service: “generating a personalized document with Gemini required being in Docs while building AI-powered spreadsheets required being in Sheets.”

Google is now upgrading each instance of Gemini in Workspace to have the same feature set. This applies to the side panels in Gmail, Drive, Docs, Slides, and Chat. The upgrade is made possible by Workspace Intelligence and deeper app integrations.

For example, you can have Gemini “send an email to my sales team for their review and feedback” from Google Docs instead of needing to be in Gmail. 

In Google Chat, you can “find open times, schedule meetings, or resolve calendar conflicts.” Google Tasks also lets you “instantly log a reminder or create a to-do list” from any service.

On the content creation front, example prompts include:

• When in Gmail (via the side panel) to create a doc: “Create a strategy brief for this project with goals, milestones and next steps.“
• When in Gmail (via the side panel) to create a spreadsheet: “Create a tracker for this project in a new spreadsheet”
• When in Docs (via the side panel) to create a deck: “Turn this proposal into an easy to read slide deck for my director using @presentation as a style reference.”
• When in Chat (via Ask Gemini in Chat) to create a document: “Create a deck outlining Project Zebra with the latest updates”
• When in Drive (via Ask Gemini in Drive) to create a document: “Create a customer insights deck from project Zebra using my project files including sheets, reports, and emails”

This expanded feature set started rolling out this month. For consumers, this is available to subscribers of Google AI Pro (“with the exception of scheduling functionality”) and Google AI Ultra. It’s also coming to:

• Business: Standard and Plus
• Enterprise: Standard and Plus
• Other Editions: Frontline Plus (only for scheduling functionality)
• Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education
• Other Add-ons: AI Expanded Access