#246 Will Granis: How Google Cloud is Powering the Future of Agentic AI
This episode is sponsored by Thuma.
Thuma is a modern design company that specializes in timeless home essentials that are mindfully made with premium materials and intentional details.
To get $100 towards your first bed purchase, go to http://thuma.co/eyeonai
What happens when AI agents start negotiating, automating workflows, and rewriting how the enterprise world operates?
In this episode of the Eye on AI podcast, Will Grannis, CTO of Google Cloud, reveals how Google is leading the charge into the next frontier of artificial intelligence: agentic AI. From multi-agent systems that can file your expenses to futuristic R2-D2-style assistants in real-time race strategy, this episode dives deep into how AI is no longer just about models—it's about autonomous action.
In this episode, we explore:
How AgentSpace is transforming how enterprises build AI agents
The evolution from rule-based workflows to intelligent orchestration
Real-world use cases: expense automation, content creation, code generation
Trust, sovereignty, and securing agentic systems at scale
The future of multi-agent ecosystems and AI-driven scientific discovery
How large enterprises can match startup agility using their data advantage
Whether you're a founder, engineer, or enterprise leader—this episode will shift how you think about deploying AI in the real world.
Subscribe for more deep dives with tech leaders and AI visionaries.
Drop a comment with your thoughts on where agentic AI is headed!
(00:00) Preview and Intro
(02:34) Will Grannis' Role at Google Cloud
(05:14) Origins of Agentic Workflows at Google
(09:10) How Generative AI Changed the Agent Game
(12:29) Agents, Tool Access & Trust Infrastructure
(14:01) What is Agent Space?
(16:30) Creative & Marketing Agents in Action
(23:29) Core Components of Building Agents
(25:29) Introducing the Agent Garden
(28:06) The "Cloud of Connected Agents" Concept
(33:53) Solving Agent Quality & Self-Evaluation
(37:19) The Future of Autonomous Finance Agents
(40:55) How Enterprises Choose Cloud Partners for Agents
(43:50) Google Cloud's Principles in Practice
(46:27) Gemini's Context Power in Cybersecurity
(49:50) Robotics and R2D2-Inspired AI Projects
(52:39) How to Try Agent Space Yourself
Games, Teams, and Moonshots: Google Cloud’s Will Grannis
Will Grannis discovered his love for technology playing Tron and Oregon Trail as a child. After attending West Point and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, he translated his passion for game theory into an aptitude for solving problems for companies, a central component of his role as founder and leader of the Office of the CTO at Google Cloud. Will leads a team of customer-facing technology leaders who, while tasked with bringing machine learning solutions to market, approach their projects with a user-first mindset, ensuring that they first identify the problem to be solved.
Will makes it clear that great ideas don’t only come from the obvious subject-area experts in the room; diverse perspectives, coupled with a codified approach to innovation, lead to the best ideas. The collaboration principles and processes Google Cloud relies on can be applied at other organizations across industries. Read the episode transcript here.
Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/audio-series/me-myself-and-ai.
Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.
Your reviews are essential to the success of Me, Myself, and AI. For a limited time, we’re offering a free download of MIT SMR’s best articles on artificial intelligence to listeners who review the show. Send a screenshot of your review to smrfeedback@mit.edu to receive the download.
Guest bio: Will Grannis is the founder and leader of Google Cloud’s CTO Office, a team of senior engineers whose mission is to foster collaborative innovation between Google and its largest customers. Prior to joining Google in 2015, Grannis spent the last two decades as an entrepreneur, enterprise technology executive, and investor, building and scaling technical platforms that today power commerce, transportation, and the public sector. He’s been a developer, product manager, CTO, SVP of Engineering, and CEO, building a wide variety of platforms and teams along the way.
We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.
We want to know how you feel about Me, Myself, and AI. Please take a short, two-question survey.