Unlocking Opportunities With Google Cloud And Agentic AI

How Google Cloud’s agentic AI, co-sell momentum, and new marketplaces are reshaping the channel.

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As the AI race accelerates, Google Cloud is sharpening its competitive edge with a powerful strategy built on agentic AI, seamless interoperability, and a renewed commitment to partner co-selling. In the latest episode of “The Channel Angle ,” CRN Assistant News Editor Mark Haranas and Pythian CEO Brooks Borcherding sit with host Cass Cooper to unpack Google’s evolving ecosystem, what it means for vendors, solution providers, and business owners ready to seize the moment.

Agentic AI: Google’s $1B-Plus For The Channel

According to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, autonomous task-driven AI systems, also known as agentic AI, arethe most significant opportunity for partners today, with the potential to unlock billions in productivity and economic value. “If you’re a Google Cloud partner,” Haranas says, “you need to jump on agentic AI now.”

Key to this push is Google’s new developer AI kit, an open-source framework allowing partners to build AI agents in under 100 lines of code. Another game-changing launch: Agent-to-Agent, a protocol that allows AI systems across Google, Salesforce, SAP, and beyond to collaborate seamlessly. That interoperability could be a defining differentiator as Google doubles down on open-source coding.

New Marketplace, New Money

One of the boldest moves from Google Cloud Next: the introduction of AI Agent Marketplace. Positioned within the broader Google Cloud Marketplace, this new offering allows partners to publish AI agents that customers can find, try, and buy – all without direct sales outreach. Perhaps more importantly, enterprise customers can now use committed cloud spend toward these partner-developed solutions.

“Partners who list their AI agents here stand to gain not just visibility, but real revenue from customers eager to maximize their cloud budgets,” says Haranas. “It’s an entirely new path to profitability”

Partner Enablement: Co-Selling Takes Center Stage

Behind the scenes, Google is aligning its internal teams to ensure partners succeed. The entire Google Cloud sales organization is now undergoing mandatory co-selling training, including services registration and incentive alignment. That, according to Haranas, signals a deeper integration between Google’s go-to-market motions and partner growth.

And that shift is already paying off for partners like Pythian.

CEO Spotlight: Brooks Borcherding On AI, Agent Space, And Choosing The Right Cloud

Brooks Borcherding, CEO of Pythian, brings over a decade of cloud leadership experience and a candid perspective on Google’s latest innovations.

Pythian’s early success with Agent Space, Google’s AI-powered enterprise search solution, is a case study in go-to-market timing. “We’ve had over 20 opportunities in just one month,” shares Borcherding in an interview. “Agent Space is compelling because it connects existing data environments like Slack, Salesforce, and others with Gemini’s AI to drive real productivity. And it respects existing access controls.”

Pythian is also leaning into custom AI development, building on Vertex AI and other tools to tailor solutions for clients. But Borcherding emphasized the importance of starting with what’s practical. “We help clients chart a realistic journey,” he says. “Too many are trying to leap to the finish line before laying the data foundation.”

And Google’s partner model? Borcherding sees a stark improvement: “This isn’t about resale anymore. It’s about services attached. Google is rewarding MSPs and service-led partners like never before.”

Why Google?

When asked about choosing Google over AWS or Azure, Borcherding is direct: “You need to pick a horse. And for data and AI, Google is the obvious one. No other hyperscaler has the full stack from infrastructure to enterprise search, not to mention seven apps with two billion users each. Add DeepMind on the edge, and it’s not even close.”

What’s Next?

Google isn’t slowing down. A new AI support agent built specifically for channel partners is rolling out to help solution providers instantly check their partner tier requirements, approve statements of work, and get support 24/7.

For solution providers this is more than a product update cycle. It’s a turning point in the ecosystem.