Unpacking Google Next 2023: My Top 10 Insights & Takeaways
Google Next 2023 has wrapped up, and once again, it was a whirlwind of innovation, insights, and announcements. The conference indeed focused on ‘all-things-AI’, as expected. Fortunately, here’s my easy-to-digest top 10 list.
Entree
I typically intro the topic with “what, where and why”, but this occasion I am prescribing this blog post for someone who’s knows a fair bit about cloud technologies, Google Cloud as a hyperscaler to start with.
Now, If I had to summarise the Event with One Meme, then I have this…
The Main Event
Once again, The Google Cloud Next ’23 was a significant event that showcased Google Cloud’s commitment to innovation and the future of cloud computing. The conference highlighted the importance of sustainability, with Google Cloud aiming to be the world’s cleanest cloud provider, and introduced the “Sustainable Cloud Challenge”, encouraging developers to build eco-friendly applications.
“This Time It Was Different”— The event packed quite a punch being full-on immersive “AI-value-add this”, and “AI-fasttrack-augment-this” emphasising the role of AI in modern businesses, with the introduction of Duet AI, a generative AI model designed to collaborate with users in real-time. Sitting in my seat at the theatre, this was the most impressive “a-ha! moment”.
Google Business Workspace + (Duet) AI + (power-of) Google Cloud Enterprise made so much more sense, particularly as per live demo of AppSheet+VertexAI integration.
This AI-driven approach is set to revolutionise various sectors, from customer service to software development. Watch Sessions on-demand
Overall Trends and Innovations
It came as not surprise that AI was at the forefront of Google Cloud’s Strategy. This annual Google Cloud Conference event in San Francisco was dominated by a plethora of AI announcements. This included enhancements to its infrastructure to better support AI, an expansion of AI partnerships, improvements to its Vertex AI Platform, and updates to its generative tool Duet AI, which has been now integrated into Workspace.
It was the sheer volume and pace of these announcements that really underscored AI as the topmost priority for Google Cloud. The keynote, led by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, emphasized the transformative potential of AI, touching upon every sector, industry, and business function.
The message was clear: AI is not just a feature but a profound shift that will redefine how we live and work.
Beyond the technical announcements, the conference also showcased practical applications of the AI technologies, bringing to life the tangible Real-world Applications of AI.
Demo one: One notable demonstration was the use of generative AI to enhance the customer experience at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), known for its less-than-stellar service. Through the integration of conversational AI, customers could easily navigate the DMV’s services, ask questions, and even book appointments, all facilitated by generative AI.
Demo two: Another demonstration highlighted the capabilities of Duet AI within Google Drive, where it could autonomously create presentations based on user prompts. Furthermore, Duet AI’s integration with Google Meet showcased its ability to take notes, summarize meetings, and collate action items, enhancing productivity during virtual meetings.
These real-world applications underscore the transformative potential of AI, not just as a technological marvel but as a tool that can significantly improve everyday tasks and business operations.
In short, “I’m very excited about this space”
My notes on Security Announcements
At the heart of the security announcements was — once again — the introduction of Duet AI in Google Cloud. This AI collaborator provides generative AI-powered assistance to cloud defenders. Duet AI has been integrated into key products like Mandiant Threat Intelligence and Chronicle Security Operations.
Duet AI helps in summarising threat intelligence, transforming threat detection, and providing clear summaries of security cases. Additionally, Duet AI in the Security Command Center offers near-instant analysis of security findings, helping teams stay ahead of potential threats.
Walter Lee 🐳Jai Campbell ⎈ Natalie McHugh
#googlecloudnext
Let’s dive into my list of notable updates and announcement I jotted down, while running from one session to another and catching up with great folks face to face, for the first time in…. a really really long time. (2019?)
My Top 10 Updates and Announcements:
- Supercharging Security with Duet AI
Google Cloud is addressing security challenges by enhancing security with Duet AI. This AI collaborator provides generative AI-powered assistance to cloud defenders, aiding in threat detection, investigation, and response. Read more about Duet AI.
PS There is an All New Google Security Exam Available - Mandiant Hunt for Chronicle
This new feature provides continual threat hunting by Mandiant experts on Chronicle data, exposing attacker activity and reducing business impact. Learn about Mandiant Hunt for Chronicle. - Enhancements in Security Command Center (Upgrades!)
Google Cloud is integrating agentless vulnerability scanning, powered by Tenable, to detect vulnerabilities on Google Compute Engine virtual machines. Additionally, they’ve introduced Cloud Firewall Plus and Network Service Integration Manager to bolster network security. - Confidential Computing (more of)
Google Cloud announced the private Preview of Confidential Computing running on 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs with TDX technology, ensuring cryptographic isolation from other workloads and cloud provider access. - Google Workspace with Generative AI
Google Workspace is now supercharged with AI-powered security and digital sovereignty controls, ensuring a safer way to work and protect users from cyber threats. - Duet AI in Looker — BusinessIntelligence
Duet AI (Duet expands across the cloud ecosystem now) has been integrated into Looker and is currently in preview. This feature will enhance the data visualization capabilities of Looker, making it easier for businesses to derive actionable insights from their data. - Cross-Cloud Network Platform
Google announced the Cross-Cloud Network, an open and programmable global cloud networking platform. This platform aims to enhance connectivity and integration across various cloud environments. Additionally, the Private Service Connect now supports over 20 different Google and partner managed services, ensuring seamless integration and communication between services. Read about Cross-Cloud Interconnect in particular. - Enhancements in Networking
Google introduced several new features to improve networking capabilities. The Cloud Firewall Plus tier, which is a cloud-first next-generation firewall, is now in preview. Additionally, the new Network Service Integration Manager simplifies the setup and operation of partner NGFWs from leading providers. VPC Spokes support in Network Connectivity Center is also in preview, allowing for enhanced VPC connectivity. And my personal favourite — Global ALB supporting mTLS Client-Side Auth. - GKE Enterprise is here!
It’s a premium edition of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), designed to help businesses run their most critical workloads with increased efficiency across multiple teams. It includes features like a new; multi-cluster feature (“fleets”), advanced security insights, governance controls, and a managed service mesh. GKE Enterprise also supports hybrid and multi-cloud environments, allowing businesses to run container workloads anywhere. Yes — There is Duet AI for GKE as well :) - TPU Support in GKE!
TPU support in GKE: a catalyst for AI success.
GKE has expanded its support for AI-optimized hardware. Specifically, it now supports the AI-optimized Cloud TPU v5e. This new TPU can scale to tens of thousands of chips, making it ideal for developing more complex AI models. Additionally, GKE has added GA support for A3 VM with NVIDIA H100 GPU and made Google Cloud Storage FUSE generally available on GKE. - Ok, Last one, promise — Digital Sovereignty Offerings (More regions)
Google Cloud continues to invest in digital sovereignty offerings, announcing Assured Workloads Japan Regions, which supports data residency in Japanese regions.
The Government of El Salvador announced a multi-year deal with Google Cloud to digitally transform the country with Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Edge, as well as to establish an office presence and Center of Excellence (CoE) in the country.
Closing Thoughts
The Google Next 2023 Conference was a testament to Google Cloud’s commitment to driving innovation in the cloud space.
And we’re clearly living in the new era of business and digital transformation, with AI supercharged solutions, accelerators.
The focal point is that this “Duet AI” capability is being embedded across the Google Cloud ecosystem of products, thus fast tracking solutions, delivering real tangible accelerators across a spectrum of industries. This will be transformational in it’s own right, and you really ought to get started with the courses and learning to ensure you’re not left behind — the ML Engineer Learning Path (by Google Cloud) is one such good one stop shop.
See you in the Cloud!
Until Next Time,
JP
(All The Content and Opinions are my own)
