Austin Leone:
So the interface will essentially require a goal. So you put in whatever goal it is that you’re trying to accomplish, you can give a set of instructions that’d be parameters that you want it to act within. Maybe you’re asking it to put on a certain hat, do a specific role, be a specific type of expert, and you can also choose what type of data source that you want to connect to. And that’s really it. So I’m just describing what I want and then Agentspace is putting that together for me.
Veronica Raulin:
[00:00:30] Welcome, everyone. You are listening to another episode of Cloud and Clear, SADA’s Cloud Transformation podcast. Today. I’m your host, Veronica Raulin. I’m the senior director of advisory services at SADA, and today we’re pleased to welcome to the show, an amazing colleague, Austin Leone, the senior manager on the change management team. Before we get started, don’t forget to like and subscribe to our channel on your favorite listening platform to stay up to date on the latest [00:01:00] Cloud and Clear episodes. Austin, welcome to the show.
Austin Leone:
Thanks so much, Veronica. I’m so excited to be here.
Veronica Raulin:
Well, before we get into the topic, tell everyone a little bit about your role at SADA.
Austin Leone:
Sure. I’m senior manager of organizational change management here at SADA. So I mostly work on the Workspace side of the house, but also do a lot with Gemini and Agentspace and all of the new tools that Google is rolling out in the AI sphere. So really exciting. For me personally, a lot of my background is in industrial organizational [00:01:30] psychology. I’ve been studying AI for the last 15 years on and off, so it’s a really exciting time I think in our industry. And then as far as change management goes, we’re really here to make sure that the people side of these technology transitions gets the attention that it needs, that people are aware of what’s going to happen and they know exactly what to do when they’re getting started in their new tools.
Veronica Raulin:
Wonderful. Absolutely no bias here on the people side of change, of course, but that is a key component to all of our successful projects at SADA, is taking care of the people [00:02:00] side. Today we want to talk specifically about Agentspace. So let’s just pretend there’s a few folks out there listening to this podcast who may not know what Agentspace is. Austin, can you just back it up a little bit and tell those folks what Agentspace platform is for and who’s using it?
Austin Leone:
Yes. So Agentspace is giving everyone in your organization a team of expert assistants that are customized to them. So all of the different data sources that there are in a company, [00:02:30] we’ve got SharePoint, we’ve got Confluence, ServiceNow, all of these different data sources can kind of be brought together and people can interact with it in a conversational way. And I know that the last time you and Kelly spoke, you talked about Google kind of returning to its roots and building this really great search engine and that’s Agentspace. But what we’ve kind of seen in the last few months is that it’s not really just a search engine, it’s kind of a do engine. People are using it for putting together reports, for analyzing data, for generating ideas. [00:03:00] They’re doing a lot of different things with the tool than I think a lot of people know really exist. And really importantly, it’s all taking place inside of each organization’s secure Google Cloud environment. So each user only has access to the data that they need.
Veronica Raulin:
Excellent. So we have a secure platform based on Google kind of going back to its roots about searching and organizing data, but on top of that there’s use cases for doing things with that data, as you said, a do engine. [00:03:30] Now, when we think of companies’ data, most of the folks we talk to are Google Workspace users or GCP, right? In our podcast, we often talk with a lot of customers that are already on Workspace, but Agentspace seems to be opening itself up to a much broader audience. So what would you say to someone who says, “Oh, Agentspace, don’t you have to be on Workspace for that to get value?” How would you answer that question?
Austin Leone:
Absolutely not. Yeah. So I think that [00:04:00] SADA and Google are kind of moving into a space. We’re a little bit more technology-agnostic. We recognize that our customers are on a variety of different platforms and there’s a need to bring all that data together. We’re certainly seeing it being used by people who use Microsoft predominantly in their day-to-day. But not just Microsoft, they’re using a variety of different systems, and fortunately Agentspace is designed to connect to those and really give access to all of that information in one space and make it really interactive.
Veronica Raulin:
Yeah, so we’re talking knowledge [00:04:30] bases, file repositories, ticketing systems, all that?
Austin Leone:
That’s right. Yeah. For HR teams, we’re doing things like building an onboarding buddy that people can ask questions to 24/7. I think that’s pretty amazing. For sales teams we’re doing things like creating custom agents that can get people up to speed really fast on the entire history with a customer. I think that’s pretty amazing as well. And then even with IT teams, those who are dealing with contact centers, [00:05:00] we’re kind of seeing the ability to determine who’s the top performer? What are their analytics looking like? What kind of trends are we seeing in their response times? So we’re really getting quite granular with that data. It’s really up to the organization and what data is available to them.
Veronica Raulin:
Okay, fabulous. Now, we know having been in the Google ecosystem for quite some time, that these products rapidly evolve and the AI tools are just one example of that. So let’s talk about some recent developments. [00:05:30] You mentioned custom agents. I think that type of terminology can get a lot of folks excited, but it can also make many people nervous. What does that mean? Am I going to have to learn how to code? How can I, just a normal person take advantage of some of these recent developments? How would you break down some of the user-friendly aspects of Agentspace?
Austin Leone:
I would say that the entire tool is really designed in a user-friendly way. I, myself am also a normal [00:06:00] person who doesn’t know how to code very well, but I think that’s really the beauty of Agentspace. It’s designed for that type of user. So building an agent inside of Agentspace, just to give you a bit of an idea, maybe some of our customers are familiar with Gemini Gems, it’s really kind of a similar way to go about building these custom agents. So the interface will essentially require a goal. So you put in whatever goal it is that you’re trying to accomplish, you can give a set of instructions that’d be parameters that you want it to act [00:06:30] within. Maybe you’re asking it to put on a certain hat, do a specific role, be a specific type of expert. And you can also choose what type of data source that you want to connect to, and that’s really it. So I’m just describing what I want, and then Agentspace is putting that together for me.
Veronica Raulin:
Sounds pretty exciting. So I know in Agentspace there’s also some tools that users may have already started exploring with like Deep Research or Notebook LM. Can you say a little bit about how Google has taken an approach to maybe [00:07:00] embed all the tools together in an Agentspace interface?
Austin Leone:
Yes, absolutely. So the way that Google is bringing together tools is really super unique in my mind. I think it’s really interesting. They’re putting Agentspace into the background of a lot of these different tools and it’s opening up using a lot of the tools that they’ve created recently as sources. So for me, even one of the most recent examples that I can think of really enhanced the ability to interact with Agentspace, they’ve put it into [00:07:30] the address bar. So when I go to search for something, I know a lot of people who use Workspace in their day-to-day, that’s the primary place we’re going to. We’re just typing in the name of a file that we’re looking for, but now we can interact with Agentspace from the same address bar.
Veronica Raulin:
Okay, that’s really fun. Did not know. All right, let’s transition a little bit away from the product. So we’ve talked a little bit about what it means, how it works, the security aspects, of course, and the complexity, right? There are coding options and there are no coding options. [00:08:00] Now that we’ve seen this product go GA or general availability, I think we’re going to see a lot more customers come to us. So can you talk a little bit about how we’ve been supporting customers thus far and proof of values and where you see the shift potentially going now that more users may be on the platform?
Austin Leone:
Absolutely. So, so far, as you said, we’ve been doing a lot of proof of values. That means that we’re sitting down with a specific group of users at each organization. They’re getting inside the tools, so we’re [00:08:30] doing things like communications, making them aware. We’re holding meetings with those folks. Again, making sure that they know what the tool is, they’re getting in there for the first time, they’re getting hands-on and using it.
We’re also doing things like gathering data. So what is the satisfaction with the tool? Getting feedback on how users are interacting with it. We’re starting to gather prompts that may help us to build out the use cases across the organization, and that’s generally what we’re seeing in a proof of value. As you said, now we’re transitioning into a different place. We’re doing [00:09:00] deployments for large amounts of users across major organizations, and the approach is going to be a little bit different.
I think from what we’ve seen in the past, SATA has done countless stakeholder interviews throughout the years with different roles, different departments, different organizations. So we do know a lot about what people are doing in their day-to-day. From that, we’re holding custom department-specific sessions. So we’re introducing Agentspace in a way that’s meaningful to a specific user group. That’s really going to spark [00:09:30] the idea, right? We’re just getting things going. Where we’re really going with these large implementations is we want users to be hands-on in these tools. We’ve seen time and time again that, that’s going to be the differentiator between seeing true adoption in a tool that’s being rolled out versus something that’s not seeing that adoption that we want. So we’re doing things like bringing people together in large groups. We’re coming up with these smaller groups, breaking people out and kind of pitting their ideas of how to use Agentspace best in their own work [00:10:00] against each other.
And what’s happening at the end of these engagements is now we suddenly have a list, right? It’s kind of like a library of use cases that are specific to your organization. And the beauty of that is it is things that you can act on tomorrow, essentially. It’s something that you can implement as a process in the broader business immediately. So it’s generating a lot of excitement from users too on, “Hey, I just created this really great new thing and I want everyone to use it. It’s amazing that this is possible now. I didn’t know that we could do it this [00:10:30] way.” So we’re really seeing a lot of excitement from different user groups as well.
Veronica Raulin:
Sounds like some good core change management methodology, building a few champions perhaps, and making it fun, whether it’s like you mentioned, hackathons, creating that friendly competition and just getting folks talking about what they’re doing, sharing their success stories. Okay, excellent.
You hit on something earlier that I really want to go back and click into again. You talked about sitting [00:11:00] down with new customers and saying, “Here’s some ways that you could use Agentspace,” and using the concept that it’s easier to edit than to start from a blank page. So having a partner like SADA adds a lot of value. But if someone is coming to the table new with no real idea of what connectors, how do you use Agentspace, how can you get that conversation going so that you can quickly start seeing value?
Austin Leone:
I think that’s one of the [00:11:30] really beautiful things about using a partner. So SADA has been doing this for a long time. Again, we’ve deployed lots of different technology initiatives across many different organizations, but even when it comes to Agentspace, SADA has done so many agent-based projects at this point. We’ve really learned a lot about how customers are using it, what their different use cases are, and it has been an amazing journey.
Veronica Raulin:
You talked a little bit about explore, explore, explore, right? Get your new ideas out there. In what ways is change management helping on the flip [00:12:00] side maybe to reinforce best practices or policies so that an organization can make the right choices? Because after all, we’re searching through any and all of their data. Can you just say a little bit more about that data security and best practices there?
Austin Leone:
Absolutely. So again, going back to the root of this, Agentspace is built in everyone’s secure Google Cloud foundation. It’s built in your environment. Users are only going to have access to the data that they already have access today. So no one [00:12:30] is getting rogue access to things that they shouldn’t be able to access, and then being able to ask a lot of questions about it and dig really deep into those resources, right? It’s only the things that people are going to have access to.
As far as the best practices go, we’re doing things like sitting down with experts and leads of the data security stream or just security in general at an organization, trying to understand what their policies are, and then we’re reiterating that to users throughout the entire process. So during communications, during introduction slides, [00:13:00] going into trainings, we are making sure that your policies are front and center in everything that we’re sharing with people, because we want to make sure that people are following the best uses that have been set forth by your organization.
Veronica Raulin:
Let’s talk just a little bit about how we’re getting Agentspace out to employees. So you start with a customer. Is this a site? Is it created? Those initial coms, how do you get that first step going?
Austin Leone:
That’s a really great question. We’re [00:13:30] kind of meeting people where they are. So if you have an existing Google site, something that you deployed in the past, we’re more than happy to work in a system like that. If you have an LMS system, and we know lots of companies have internal internet or forums or different places that they’re meeting people, even Slack messages, whatever the system may be, we’re able to create communications.
And I think probably the best practice really is going to be, again, make sure that we’re getting people where they’re at, but also making sure that we’re using multiple different communication channels and really creating [00:14:00] excitement as well. Always having a theme, having swag, things that we can give out, those are the best practices. We want to make sure that this is fun and we want to make sure that it’s also going to be something that people are going to see. We want it to be part of their work and not outside of it. We don’t want people to have to reach very far to learn how to use Agentspace, so we want to make sure that it’s front and center.
Veronica Raulin:
We’ve seen Google make a lot of product updates, right? Agentspace was all over everything at Google Next, agentic AI. Where do you think Agentspace is [00:14:30] going next?
Austin Leone:
Ooh, that’s such a good question. I’m actually really excited about the future of Agentspace. For me, it’s all about the actions. So today when I’m interacting with Agentspace, I can do things like, say schedule a meeting with Veronica Raulin for tomorrow, covering this specific topic, and it’ll find the document that I’m searching for. It’s going to create that meaning for me. It’s going to attach that document to that meeting, and it’s going to add Veronica as a guest. So something that historically would’ve taken [00:15:00] me 10 or 20 clicks is now just going to take me a couple of lines on my keyboard and I’m done. So that’s where we’re at today. In the future, I can imagine that we’re going towards more complex actions, more complex workflows, and really being able to automate those tasks.
Veronica Raulin:
Yeah, and what I think is just the best part about it is it’s not dependent on Google Workspace, right? You can connect to any email system to do that work you just said, or any calendar invite to do what you just said. And that seems to be one of the plays [00:15:30] that we’re making as a partner, but also that we’re seeing Google make, is really opening up this product and going out into the market and saying, “Hey, maybe Workspace isn’t for you, but that doesn’t mean Agentspace is not for you.” So I’m interested to see what kind of connectors come next and what kind of capabilities, of course, that action, make me lunch, finish my laundry, and let me have more time to read books. Can Agentspace maybe do that in the future?
Austin Leone:
I think it can. [00:16:00] I think we’re at the beginning of a new and exciting time. And the truth is we don’t know what’s next, but we know that a lot of us want to be on the cutting edge of this technology. We want to be the first to implement it, and that’s why SADA is here to help.
Veronica Raulin:
When we talk to leaders, that is a big aspect of this, right? We don’t always know where it’s going, but no one really wants to be left behind, and that’s why whether you are engaging in a proof of value or you’re launching Agentspace, it’s something you’re bringing to your organization, having someone who can [00:16:30] help you adopt. So you mentioned that adoption, so I’m going to just tie that in, adopting the tool and seeing value. So when you are looking for what is that value, there’s a cost. And organizations are saying, “I took people out of the field, they’re training on this tool, I’ve given them this tool. How is it changing their lives?” What are some of the adoption metrics or approaches that you might take in this specific type of project?
Austin Leone:
There’s a few different ways that we can approach this. Google actually has their own value [00:17:00] metrics that are essentially built into the cloud console today, where we can see an estimate of how much time users are saving based on the number of prompts that are entered, and a variety of other metrics that are available for your organization. So there’s always that kind of harder approach that’s already built into the tools today.
I think what SADA is doing on top of that is actually going around and measuring things with the users, gathering their sentiment, their satisfaction with the tools, whether [00:17:30] or not it’s doing the things that they want to do, whether or not it’s opening up their day so they can do other things that they’d like to be doing with their time rather than some of these routine tasks that we’re trying to automate. So we’re getting a lot of really good information from users and we’re sharing that back as well. That’s enabling us to make really great suggestions for how we could roll this out in the future to their broader organization.
Veronica Raulin:
Flip side, change fatigue, we know that’s a real thing. And with the product changing, Google changing, wait, should I use this AI tool or that one? [00:18:00] Is this company sanctioned? Is this not? There’s so many choices now for users for incorporating AI. What is the value of something like Agentspace or a company-based tool, and how in our change processes do we actually just kind of cut through the noise and cut through that change fatigue so that people do feel like they have enough time to learn, or energy even to learn something new?
Austin Leone:
I think going back to setting those policies, that’s really important [00:18:30] for addressing, AI across the organization, how can I use it? I’m not sure what I can and can’t do. Making those policies as simple as possible, right? Finding the right people, getting them in the room, making sure everyone can agree on how all AI tools can be used across the board, that’s going to be key and that’s certainly something that SADA has been doing on a regular basis. That’s really the start of it. We want to make sure that we’re aligned from the top.
When it comes to getting people excited, getting them into the tool, again, I’ve got to go back [00:19:00] to our hackathon-style approach. It doesn’t have to be we’re just putting out training for people and then expecting them to show up for an hour, listen to someone talk at them. It doesn’t have to be that type of structured, rigorous learning. It does have a place, absolutely, in making sure that people are comfortable and know what to do with the tools, but it’s not the only way. What we really want is people to have hands on keyboard. We want to set aside a dedicated time. And it can be as little as a couple of hours, just having a team come together, brainstorm ways to use the tool [00:19:30] inside their day-to-day, and then share back what those ideas are. What are they able to put together in practice?
Veronica Raulin:
One more kind of note, I think we’re hovering around this point, Agentspace and AI is really some of the first pieces of technology that work for you. Austin’s workflows, Veronica’s workflows, so-and-so’s workflows. A training does not fit all, right? You really have to break it down and do that work for yourself. [00:20:00] And you were speaking, it reminded me of our own company mandates, where we’re hearing we’re going forward with AI. It is going to change how we as SADA and as part of Insight, how we show up and how we do our work every day.
And I think that leadership mandate of AI is important, is really critical, but I think there’s a component for all of you who are out there thinking, “What do I do next?” It is just get involved, right? We’ve made the joke, I am [00:20:30] not Neo, and this is not the Matrix. This will not be downloaded into my brain. If you do not know that reference, please look it up, use Agentspace, find it, search the web. But ultimately, it’s a little bit on each one of us as individuals to figure out how AI is going to help us be more efficient. It’s a very personal journey. What would you say to folks who are trying to dip their toe in, or maybe they’re in [00:21:00] about where AI is going? Is it slowing down?
Austin Leone:
Oh, it’s absolutely not slowing down. Absolutely not slowing down yet. It’s not going anywhere for a long time. I think that there are a few different ways that you can dip your toe in and make it really approachable. I think the biggest thing is, as you said, just show up. Just get involved. Just find a way. I think we do a good job of incorporating plenty of opportunities for every single person to get involved, but it just starts with a personal decision. You have to say, ” [00:21:30] I’m tired of working 45, 50, 60 hours a week. How can I do it better? How can I change the way that I’m working so that I’m a little bit faster, a little bit more efficient, getting things done and then opening myself up, removing some blockers out of my day?”
I mean, it really is, I think at the end of the day, going to help all of us with our work. And really, again, just showing up, getting involved, hearing about the tools, seeing if you can think of a few use cases that apply to you, and then taking [00:22:00] that out into your day saying, “I’m going to sit down and I’m going to try to use AI. First thing as I’m assigned this new task, how could I do it with AI?” And just asking ourselves that. That’s one major way that you could kind of just dip your toes into the water of AI.
Veronica Raulin:
Okay. I love that. So slow down a little bit to speed up?
Austin Leone:
That’s right.
Veronica Raulin:
Okay. Well, Austin, final question. You’ve got a wish list. The product developers for Agentspace are out there listening to this podcast. What do you hope they do [00:22:30] with AI and specifically within Agentspace for your benefit?
Austin Leone:
That’s another really great question. It has been a whole podcast full of great questions. For me personally, I think I just want to see those automations build out a little bit more. I know we’re going there in the future and I know that’s what I’m most excited about, but I’m super excited for that multi-step action to be coming. And I know we kind of have a little bit of that today. We kind of have a taste of what’s on the horizon, [00:23:00] but I’m so excited to have those routine things automated for me. So that’s it for me. I really just want to see it in more aspects of my work, and I really want to see how I can put it together in different ways. So that’s the big thing. I just want to see those actions built out a little bit more. I’m sure Google is working on that as we speak.
Veronica Raulin:
Yeah, I’ll second that. Taking those actions for me, understand it’s not laundry, I’ll come to terms with that. But yes, having the tool take that next step for me. [00:23:30] Don’t just find the data and summarize it, but then what’s the next step and the next step? And knowing that it can do that. Totally agree. We’ll see where it goes.
Austin, thank you so much for joining us today. I think it has been a really great conversation, and I hope that those out there listening take some inspiration and find different ways to think about Agentspace, think about what it means for you personally and understand how it’s going to change your organization. Whether you are a Workspace user, [00:24:00] Microsoft Office user, there’s so many different options and benefits for any type of office user. But it has been an absolute pleasure to have you here today, Austin.
Austin Leone:
Thanks so much, Veronica. I really appreciate it and I really enjoyed the conversation.
Veronica Raulin:
Excellent. Well, you won’t want to miss any exclusive insights from leaders like Austin, so we’ll see you next time on Cloud and Clear.
