By Colby Buchanan and Ben MacGillivray | Trace3 FinOps Team
Google Next 2025: FinOps Hub 2.0, Gemini Cloud Assist, and the Rise of Agentspaces June 2025
As cloud innovation accelerates, so does the complexity of managing cost, performance, and AI integration across platforms. At this year’s Google Next, the spotlight was on practical AI, tools that not only promise transformation but also deliver measurable impact. Key announcements like FinOps Hub 2.0 to Gemini Cloud Assist and the debut of Agentspaces indicate Google is driving change to make cloud operations smarter, faster, and more cost-effective. Notably, these themes didn’t stop at Google Next. Similar priorities and conversations echoed across FinOpsX, highlighting a broader industry shift toward actionable AI and cloud strategies. We’ll explore those FinOpsX takeaways in more detail in an upcoming post in our travel blog series where we’ll dig into how these insights are shaping the next chapter of cloud cost management.
FinOps Hub 2.0: From Visibility to Action
Google’s FinOps Hub 2.0 is more than a dashboard refresh - it’s a shift toward real-time, actionable cloud cost management. The platform now surfaces utilization insights across Compute Engine, Kubernetes Engine, Cloud Run, and Cloud SQL, flagging under-provisioned or idle resources and enabling users to take immediate action. Yes, even via email. FinOps Hub 2.0 adds valuable cloud cost tooling to product owners as well, with a private preview of their Project Billing costs manager, allowing product owners to see FinOps and Gemini Cloud Assist insights across their workload by giving permission to view billing data for just their projects.
FinOps Hub 2.0 closes the loop between insight and execution. Instead of surfacing cost anomalies and leaving teams to chase down fixes, it empowers them to act directly, reducing waste and improving efficiency without switching tools.
Source: Spring cleaning with FinOps Hub 2.0
Gemini Cloud Assist: AI That Understands Your Cloud
Gemini Cloud Assist is Google’s answer to the growing demand for intelligent cloud operations. It brings natural language interaction to cost insights, optimization recommendations, and even infrastructure code generation. Users can ask questions in plain English, get grounded and cited answers, and generate custom reports, all backed by real-time cost data.
This isn’t just another AI chatbot. Gemini Cloud Assist integrates with App Hub and Cloud Hub, helping teams design, operate, and optimize applications across their lifecycles. It’s a co-pilot for FinOps, SREs, and developers alike. With 70% of cloud professionals reporting their AI skills need updating, tools like Gemini Cloud Assist help bridge that gap, offering intuitive, guided experiences that reduce the learning curve and accelerate impact.
Agentspaces: Multi-Agent Workflows Meet Enterprise Search
Perhaps the most futuristic (and quietly powerful) announcement was Agentspaces, a new framework for orchestrating multi-agent workflows across Google Cloud and third-party tools. Built on Vertex AI, Agentspaces enables agents to collaborate using shared context and protocols, integrating with enterprise search, Gemini, and even Microsoft 365.
Imagine automating portfolio analysis, forecasting cash flow, or drafting emails, all within a single interface that pulls from both Google and non-Google data sources. That’s the promise of Agentspaces.
As organizations adopt more SaaS tools and hybrid environments, the ability to unify data and workflows across platforms is no longer a luxury - it’s a necessity. Google is the only hyperscaler currently offering this level of third-party agent integration. After lagging behind Microsoft CoPilot initially, Google has unveiled its vision for the future of work using AI agents to condense the best tools into one page to utilize your data.
Final Thoughts: AI Investment to Impact
Google’s message this year was clear: AI isn’t just about experimentation, it’s about sustainable ROI. Whether through smarter cost management, intuitive cloud operations, or cross-platform agent collaboration, the tools unveiled at Google Next are designed to drive real business outcomes.
At Trace3, our FinOps team is here to help you navigate these changes and maximize your Google Cloud investment. If you’re exploring how to integrate these tools into your cloud strategy, we’d love to connect.
Colby Buchanan is an Associate Cloud FinOps Consultant at Trace3 with a background in finance and a passion for AI-driven cloud optimization. He helps clients understand their cloud costs and uncover savings opportunities through FinOps best practices and automation. Colby holds the FinOps Certified Practitioner credential and completed a Post Graduate Program in AI for Business from UT Austin. Based in Austin, he enjoys rock climbing, dirt biking, and learning piano in his free time.
Ben MacGillivray is a member of the FinOps Team at Trace3, having transitioned from intern to full-time in August 2023. As part of the service delivery team, he excels in providing clients with premium services. Ben is passionate about the potential of AI and its impact on the workplace. Outside of work, he enjoys outdoor activities such as fishing, going to the beach, playing golf, and basketball, and cherishes time with friends and family. Originally from Massachusetts, Ben now resides in Grand Rapids, MI.