AppsScriptPulse

Google Workspace Flows: A Developer’s First Look After Cloud Next ’25

Image credit: Google

Last week at Google Cloud Next ’25 was packed with announcements, but one that particularly grabbed my attention was the unveiling of Google Workspace Flows. As Google Apps Script developers, many of us are familiar with automating simple tasks. However, the Flows demo hinted at a more accessible approach for tackling complex business processes.

Think about those workflows that go beyond basic if-this-then-that and into a world where you can easily configure Gemini to be your virtual assistant. Updating specific spreadsheet entries based on nuanced analysis, or finding and summarising information scattered across different files before replying to a customer. Traditional automation often hits a wall here because these tasks require context, reasoning, and sometimes even creative generation – capabilities standard automation tools lack.

Workspace Flows: AI Agents Joining the Workflow

What Google presented with Flows is a new solution for Google Workspace designed to automate these kinds of multi-step processes with AI providing assistance. Instead of just triggering actions, Flows uses AI models, including Gemini, as agents within the loop. This means the AI isn’t just kicking off a process; it’s actively participating – researching, analysing, creating, and reasoning to help get work done more efficiently and intelligently.

Having used tools like IFTTT it feels like a conceptual shift from simple automation to building intelligent, agentic workflows directly within the Workspace environment, without writing a single line of code.

Image credit: Google

If you would like to see Flows in action I highly recommend you check out the Google Cloud Next session ‘New ways to automate your work and integrate with Google Workspace’.

Why Flows Looks Interesting for Developers: Current Capabilities and Future Vision

Beyond the core AI capabilities shown in the demo, Google outlined a vision for Flows that is particularly relevant for developers, indicating where the platform is heading:

  • No-Code/Low-Code Interface (Current): The initial preview allows configuring triggers (like new emails, form responses, etc.) and actions across core Workspace apps and integrating Gemini and Gems for AI-driven steps, removing the need to find alternative solutions (code you write or third party solutions).
  • Apps Script Extensibility (Future Vision): Google announced plans to allow developers to build their own custom triggers and actions using Apps Script. This creates the opportunity to integrate your own systems or add specific logic to get more out of Flows. The presentation briefly showed an example appsscript.json manifest snippet for declaring these elements around 13:08).
  • Workspace Connectors Platform (Future Vision): A dedicated platform for third-party integrations was also announced in the presentation as part of the roadmap. The plan is to enable connections to tools like Jira, Asana, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc., allowing them to be used as triggers or actions. The stated goal is to include the ability to build end-to-end workflows spanning beyond Google Workspace, with connectors built once potentially working in both Flows and Gemini Extensions.
  • Bring Your Own Models via Vertex AI (Future Vision): For advanced AI needs, Google shared the vision for integrating your own custom or fine-tuned models hosted on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI. The concept shown involved an ‘Ask an LLM’ step where you could select a ‘Custom Model’ directly within the flow builder, pointing towards future capabilities for incorporating highly specialized AI into Workspace automations.

Looking Ahead

Google Workspace Flows is definitely a platform I’ll be watching closely. The initial preview, focusing on AI agents-in-the-loop and core Workspace automation, is already compelling. But the announced roadmap for developer extensibility – adding Apps Script support, a robust connector platform, and the ability to call custom Vertex AI models – is what makes Flows truly exciting from a development perspective.

Flows is currently in alpha with its initial feature set. If this vision sounds as interesting to you as it did to me, you can sign up for the early access waitlist.

Calling all Google Workspace developers! Apps Script Meetup at Google Cloud Next 2025

Calling all Google Workspace developers! Join us for a lively discussion on Apps Script, the cloud-based JavaScript platform that empowers you to automate tasks, connect services, and extend the functionality of your favorite Google apps. Whether you’re a seasoned Apps Script pro or just starting out, this session offers a space to share knowledge, exchange tips, and connect with fellow enthusiasts.

I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be joining Steve Bazyl, Head of Google Workspace DevRel, to co-facilitate the Apps Script Meetup at Google Cloud Next 2025. The last Next meetup we had was in 2018 so this is long overdue.

To help us plan an amazing meetup, we’d love your input! Steve and I have got this very quick survey that we’ll use to help us tailor the content and activities to your interests. The meetup is scheduled for April 10 at 12:15pm and is limited to Google Cloud Next attendees.

If you are attending Cloud Next there are a couple of other meetups:

Source: Apps Script developers meetup Google Cloud Next 25