Inside Google’s AI Opportunity: A Partner’s Perspective

As enterprises continue to work through the best approaches to leveraging AI, service providers often serve as the guides along the journey. We spoke with Blair Sammons, the director of solutions at Google Premier Partner Promevo, about the opportunities within Google’s vast AI and infrastructure ecosystem.

Why AI projects fail—and how enterprises can turn hype into results

Google’s own reporting from earlier this year, plus other studies from institutions like MIT, highlight the lingering gaps between AI deployment and return on investment (ROI).

“I think the hype cycle is starting to eclipse a little, and we’re seeing an emphasis now on things like data governance and understanding what AI can provide when used appropriately,” Sammons said.

He emphasizes the shift away from “black boxes” where add-on, third-party AI solutions don’t offer visibility into where data is stored, how it’s used, and what is actually happening in the backend, towards a “glass box” approach that prioritizes clarity and security.

To Sammons, what remains true for far too many business leaders is a lack of planning around the reason behind deploying AI in the first place.

“AI is still the new shiny toy in some ways, and we’ve seen similar waves of things like this before,” said Sammons. “Businesses aren’t looking at AI through the right scope, in my opinion. It really should be handled almost like an internship program, in the way that AI has a ton of potential but also risks, and companies need to think through where to best leverage the opportunity and how to do so effectively.”

Why Sammons thinks Google is in an AI league of its own

Promevo is heavily invested in supporting customers within Google’s vast ecosystem of solutions across infrastructure, productivity, and AI needs. Sammons himself is also deeply well-versed in the landscape, having worked with Google technology for the past decade after starting in tech roles tied to Apple’s product ecosystem.

Sammons speaks highly of Google’s end-to-end control over its AI suite, from infrastructure investments to its data governance and more. 

The hyperscaler recently announced its Gemini Enterprise suite to directly demonstrate the value and potential of its products to business-focused users. The agentic AI platform builds on Google Cloud’s previous entries into the AI market and offers IT teams and business professionals an accessible way to leverage emerging technologies.

“I think Google’s doing something really smart with how it’s focusing on supporting enterprise customers on the business side,” Sammons said.

“It’s hard to overstate how deep Google’s expertise in these areas really goes,” he continued. “Google is to AI what Apple is to the phone, in many ways. They’ve got the whole ecosystem internally.”

From chatbots to agents: the next frontier of AI business use cases

Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise suite and the market, generally speaking, are not resting on the laurels of LLM hype. The shift towards agentic AI continues, and Sammons remains bullish about how AI agents will alter how people interact with and use technology in professional and personal settings.

“I think once we start to see consumer-facing examples take hold with users, this will also be forced on to the enterprise,” said Sammons. “That’s similar to what happened with LLMs a few years ago. People will get used to new ways of using technology and will begin to expect that same experience in how they interact with businesses.”

For Sammons, the ongoing demand for AI solutions and Google’s leadership in the space offer Promevo an opportunity to continue supporting its customers by understanding their pain points.

“Working with our customers to understand what they need and what their goals are is really important. AI is a great opportunity, but it isn’t the only answer or even the best answer to every problem,” Sammons said. “We need to understand what your pain actually is. Let’s not sell hype, let’s sell real value to our customers.”