Agentic AI takes center stage at Google Cloud Summit London
At the Google Cloud Summit in London, the focus shifted from cloud infrastructure to agentic AI, with cloud mentioned only briefly. The event signals that AI is redefining the role of cloud computing.
At this year's Google Cloud Summit in London, the conversation on the exhibition floor had surprisingly little to do with cloud infrastructure. The author, who attended expecting to hear about databases and serverless architecture, found instead that the cloud itself was almost an afterthought. It was mentioned only briefly in passing near the registration desk. The real focus of nearly every discussion was agentic AI.
The event highlighted a quiet transformation in the tech landscape. While cloud computing was once the headline topic of such summits, it has now become a background assumption. The infrastructure is still there, but it no longer commands attention. Instead, developers and business leaders are turning to agentic AI—systems that can act autonomously to accomplish tasks.
The shift suggests that the industry's center of gravity is moving from managing infrastructure to harnessing intelligent agents. For cloud providers, this may mean a new role: not just offering storage and computing power, but enabling the deployment and scaling of AI-driven workflows.
The summit offered a clear signal that agentic AI is not just an emerging trend but a defining force in how technology is being discussed and built. While the cloud remains essential, it is the layer that enables the more exciting and transformative developments. As one conversation after another on the exhibition floor made clear, the future of the cloud is being shaped by the needs of artificial intelligence.
