As artificial intelligence (AI) technology continues to evolve, it has moved past its initial “hype” phase. According to Brent Reed, director of Google Public Sector, AI has now entered the “art of the practical” phase. The question is no longer about what AI “could do,” but rather about what AI is “already” doing to help government and public sector agencies serve their citizens.

In a recent webinar, Google Cloud experts discussed the potential of launching Google Gemini for government – as a unified “front door” for secure, accredited, and mission-optimized AI initiatives.

How Google AI for Public Sector is delivering ROI

The ROI data of Google AI in the public sector is clear. Government agencies are not simply “experimenting” with AI; they’re deploying it at scale. Here are some key findings from the Google Public Sector ROI study that were shared during this webinar:

• 55% of business leaders in the public sector report adopting AI agents in their organization, thus demonstrating their production readiness.
• 42% of public sector enterprises report deploying over 10 AI agents.
• 70% of enterprises have improved their productivity using Generative AI, while 46% have doubled their employee productivity.

As Brent Reed states, “the question has shifted from ‘should we consider AI’ to ‘how do we deploy AI at scale.”

Google Gemini for Government: Presenting a unified front door

During this webinar, Chris Hine, the current field CTO for Google Public Sector, compared the new Agentic AI platform to Google’s original search bar. Similar to how this search functionality hid the complexity of the Internet behind the white screen 26 years back, Google AI for the public sector hides the complexity of Agentic AI technology behind its user interface.

The Google Gemini for Government platform is built on the following 3 pillars:

1. Frontier AI models
   This pillar provides seamless access to the highest-reasoning AI models (including Google Gemini 1.5 Pro and 3.0), capable of understanding text, images, videos, and audio. 
2. Enterprise data grounding
   This foundational pillar provides the ability to ground the AI-generated responses in the public agency’s data (private and secured), thus ensuring that the AI delivers accuracy.
3. Security and compliance
   The third pillar is designed to meet FedRAMP High and Impact Level 4 (or IL4) requirements. Chris Hine points out that “if we can’t protect your data, there’s no reason to trust us.”

Seeing Google Gemini in action: the bridge failure scenario

The webinar’s live demo showed an example of the “art of the practical.” Chris Hine walked through a real-world scenario of a transportation company responding to a bridge failure.

Besides summarizing the documents with its deep research agent, the Agentic AI system performed the following actions: 

1. Developed a complete research plan that outlined a strategy to investigate structural bearing failures.
2. Synthesized data by combining internal inspection reports with live Google Search data and other global incidents.
3. Orchestrated action, which automatically generated 5 sub-agents to handle specific tasks like situational reporting, resource assignment, schedule management, and communication drafts.

This live demo highlighted the capability of AI agents as active members of the workforce, capable of deep reasoning, planning, and complex workflow execution.

4 recommendations for public sector leaders

Based on the insights shared during the live webinar, here are 4 strategic recommendations for government agencies looking to start their Agentic AI journey:

1. Target value from day one.
   Instead of waiting for large-scale, multi-year implementations, agencies must start by using built-in agents like “deep research” right from day one. This empowers employees with an immediate “superpower” for document synthesis and planning.
2. Define specific agent goals.
   The next recommendation is to define specific goals when building custom agents. As Chris Hine questions, “would it take 1,000 interns to perform a specific task?” An AI agent is the solution if the answer is “yes.”
3. Curate AI agents instead of blocking.
   The next recommendation is for IT leaders to use the tool’s “Agent Gallery” feature to curate and promote secure agents, instead of blocking them. This helps in fostering innovation and eliminating “Shadow IT.”
4. Leverage the entire ecosystem.
   Instead of building agents alone, public sector enterprises must leverage the Agent Development Kit (ADK) and the expertise of a Google public sector partner. This is effective for integrating complex enterprise data sources (like ERP systems and SQL databases) that go beyond simple tasks like document retrieval.

Featuring Onix as the Google Public Sector Partner

When deploying the “Agent Gallery” functionality, public sector companies need strict governance and security. IT departments need to determine which AI agents are ready to deploy to ensure data security.

As a well-established Google public sector partner, Onix has been rewarded with an expertise badge in 2026. As the company’s VP for the public sector, Jeremy Jenkins strives to deliver business value from day one to government agencies. Under his leadership, Onix is providing the strategic bridge between Google’s AI technology and the business needs of both federal and local agencies.

Here’s how Onix is enabling public sector enterprises navigate their AI journey:

• Governance, by designing the “Agents Gallery” to manage approved AI agents.
• Integration, by connecting secure data sources like Canvas or SQL databases.
• Protocols to manage agent-to-agent communication within complex workflows.

Conclusion

Be it government agencies or public sector enterprises, the common goal is to build an AI-native workforce that is more efficient, effective, and responsive. Chris Hines notes that “Everyone in the public sector knows that this is the moment… these agents and these agentic workflows, this is what’s coming next.”

With the emergence of Google Gemini for Government, government agencies can leverage the expertise of partners like Onix to open the “front door” to AI-driven success. Are you interested in taking a test run of the Google Gemini for government platform? Reach out to our Public Sector team today.