What changed: Google is targeting a rollout of skills - reusable custom instructions that guide Gemini to follow a team's rules, templates, and reference files - across Workspace Studio and Workspace apps (Gmail, Docs, Slides, Drive, and Chat). The rollout is gradual, with up to 15 days targeted for full feature visibility; skills can be created and tested in Workspace Studio or Google Docs, shared with teammates, and invoked automatically or via @mention, including triggering Workspace Studio flows.
Who is affected
Available to Business Starter, Standard, and Plus; Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus; Education Add-ons users with Google AI Pro for Education; and Other Add-ons users with AI Expanded Access - limited to users age 18 and older.
What it means for your business
For businesses using Gmail, Docs, Slides, Drive, or Chat, this means they can standardize recurring work - email drafts, proposals, status updates - around their own brand voice and templates without retyping instructions each time.
What to do
Before changing anything in a live system, admins should review the Admin console setting for skills in Studio and Gemini in Workspace at the domain, OU, or group level; team members should first try building a sample skill via Workspace Studio or the Docs Skill Builder and test it with an @mention in a non-critical workflow before relying on it, since the gradual rollout is not yet final for every user.
When it takes effect
Gradual rollout is targeted to start November 9, 2026 for Rapid Release domains and November 30, 2026 for Scheduled Release domains, with up to 15 days targeted for feature visibility - not yet final for all users.
Source: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/11/skills-in-workspace.html
