Google Cloud Next 2026 preview: The real story isn’t AI — it’s the control plane
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Google Cloud Next 2026 will focus on building the operating system for the agentic enterprise, shifting from AI features to owning the runtime where work happens. The company is positioning itself for a platform war in the enterprise execution layer.
Google Cloud Next 2026 is expected to be a platform war for the future of enterprise execution. The company is building the operating system for the agentic enterprise, focusing on AI that executes, data systems that provide context, and platforms that orchestrate work. The industry conversation is shifting from model comparisons to who owns the control plane where AI does work. Google is making its move in the orchestration, governance, identity, and execution layer. Key announcements to watch include agent infrastructure, AI-optimized networking and storage, and a substrate for continuous execution. The center of gravity has shifted from training to inference and now to continuous execution, with whoever owning the substrate that runs agents 24/7 owning the next decade of cloud economics.
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