The Gemini rollout: for shops that live in Google.
If your company runs on Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, Gemini has the shortest distance from purchase to payoff of any AI — it appears inside tools everyone already opens daily. Distance isn't adoption, though. This is the playbook.
01 Seats, decided by role
Gemini comes bundled with Workspace business plans at various levels — check what your current plan already includes before buying anything (people regularly discover they already own it). For upgrades, lead with the inbox-and-document-heavy roles: whoever answers the most email, drafts the most docs, and builds the most sheets sees payback first, and their wins become your internal marketing. Expand on evidence. (Current bundle math: what Gemini costs.)
02 Recipes by surface, not features by list
Three recipes per role, demonstrated live on that person's real work. "Here's Gemini, explore" is how rollouts die.
Universal physics: novelty week, then abandonment among everyone without a personal win. Countermeasures that work: a champion who isn't you, a monthly two-win show-and-tell, and one counted number. Add the governance basics from the governance lesson BEFORE wide rollout — retrofitting rules after an incident is the expensive order.
03 The multi-tool lane map
Google-first shops still often run ChatGPT or Claude for open-ended thinking. Assign lanes in writing — "email, docs, sheets, meetings → Gemini; deep strategy drafts → [other tool]" — so nobody relitigates the choice daily. Confusion, not capability, is what kills adoption.
Check what your Workspace plan already includes, pick the two heaviest-inbox roles, and write their three recipes. That's the rollout plan — most shops never write it down.
Open Gemini →This week's challenge
Two weeks: recipes demonstrated for two roles, policy + governance basics shipped, champion named, one number counted, day-14 verdict meeting held. Renew or rethink on receipts. (Want a partner in the room? Our advisory practice does exactly this.)