The place AI tools for EAs are heading next is less about producing a document faster. It’s more about monitoring, connecting and completing whole tasks without a person prompting each step.
Google Search can now watch the web for you
Google’s new information agents let you ask AI Mode to track a topic in the background – think a flight price, a competitor’s product launch or a relevant news story. And you get notified only when something changes, rather than checking manually.
For anyone who tracks ongoing situations for an executive (deals, competitor announcements and an industry developments), this turns a recurring manual check into a standing instruction.
Gemini in Drive can now read your Gmail threads too
Google’s ‘Ask Gemini in Drive’ tool can now pull in Gmail threads as a source alongside files and folders, so it can answer questions using the full picture – documents and the email conversations around them – rather than just the file itself.
It only works on threads you deliberately add, not your whole inbox, but it’s a meaningful expansion of what these tools can see.
Google’s AI agents are starting to make phone calls for you
Perhaps the clearest sign of where this is heading: Google has begun rolling out AI agents that can call businesses on a person’s behalf to check stock, compare prices and even complete simple purchases – rather than just drafting a message for a human to send.
It’s currently narrow (shopping-style errands, not yet rescheduling appointments or navigating a long hold queue) but it’s the first time a major platform has shipped a consumer AI that dials a real person and holds a conversation.
Worth watching, since the same shift (AI completing an interaction end to end rather than assisting one step of it) is exactly the direction enterprise tools are heading too.
Microsoft wants to hand over whole projects, not just tasks
Microsoft’s Copilot Cowork, now generally available, is designed to take a long, multi-step piece of work and complete it end to end, rather than assisting one task at a time. Microsoft says it’s already used by more than half of the Fortune 500.
It’s an enterprise tool rather than something most EAs will touch directly yet but it signals where the AI assistant category is heading, from drafting help to full task ownership.
Microsoft’s building its own AI brain, not just borrowing one
Microsoft unveiled MAI Thinking 1, its first in-house reasoning model, at its Build developer conference – a sign the company wants to rely less on OpenAI’s technology going forward.
It’s aimed squarely at enterprise and developer use for now, so there’s no direct EA application yet but it’s worth knowing as context for how quickly the underlying AI landscape is shifting.
AI tools now have to tell you they’re AI
New EU transparency rules that came into force this month require chatbots and AI assistants to clearly disclose they’re AI at the point of interaction, with fines of up to €15 million for non-compliance.
It only applies to EU users directly but if your organisation has European clients, contacts or offices, it’s worth checking whether any AI tools you use (or that contact you) are covered.
