Feb 11, 2026 · 31m · big-technology
Google’s AI Comeback, Enterprise Agents, The Real Path to AI ROI — W/ Promevo CEO Karthik Kripapuri
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Promevo CEO Karthik Kripapuri joins Alex Kantrowitz to examine Google's enterprise AI evolution, detailing how managed cloud platforms, clean data governance, and bottom-up workflow automation deliver measurable business ROI.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Alex holds 19.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Alex as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 1.7 Alex pushing back 1.7
speaking balance: gold is Alex, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 23:28 Pushing Back on Staff Mandate Framing
Karthik directly rejects Alex's assumption that employees were commanded to build agents, clearly correcting the operational setup.
Hardest push from Alex ▶ 13:53 Challenging Proprietary vs Open SourceAlex interrupts the flow to ask why an enterprise would choose Google's proprietary ecosystem over open-source alternatives.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 13:56 The 99 Percent Managed Services RealityKarthik educates the audience and host on why nearly all enterprises require managed cloud stacks rather than custom model infrastructure.
Alex holds their own ▶ 15:19 Synthesizing Industry Perspectives on Managed AIAlex demonstrates subject-matter authority by citing Arthur Mensch and summarizing the structural buy-versus-build dilemma facing modern enterprises.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Alex as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Alex pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overcoming Data Silos and Improving AI Model Discernment | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Alex asks targeted follow-up questions drilling into technical terminology like data integrity and model discernment. Karthik explains how data silos from the 1990s remain the primary operational blocker for enterprise AI adoption. | |
| Driving Enterprise Value Through Pragmatic Internal Workflow Automation | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Alex frames the broader enterprise software shift and asks how model advancements produce tangible business results. Karthik shares internal metrics, emphasizing operational effectiveness and employee time recovery rather than pure headcount efficiency. | |
| Managed AI Platforms Enterprise Security and Model Governance | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | Alex introduces domain depth by referencing Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch and challenging Karthik on Google versus open-source alternatives. Karthik explains the governance, IP indemnity, and managed service rationale for enterprise clients. | |
| The Real Path to Enterprise Artificial Intelligence ROI | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Alex inquires why enterprise AI implementations succeed or fail in delivering measurable ROI. Karthik dismisses empty board slogans like being an AI-first company in favor of small, measurable department-level rollouts. | |
| Analyzing Foundation Model Capabilities and Critical Self Awareness | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | Karthik politely reframes Alex's premise that Promevo tasked staff to build agents, clarifying that employees are instead trained to identify workflow use cases for developers. Alex accepts the clarification as Karthik details their internal hackathons. | |
| Transforming Knowledge Work and Accelerating Strategic Planning Workflows | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | When Alex asks a broad question regarding the future of knowledge work, Karthik requests a narrower framing before describing how Gemini reduced an annual strategic planning workflow to one hour. |
Statements from this episode (8)
Promevo has conducted 250 to 300 Gemini Workspace adoption workshops
“We started work partnering with Google to provide a lot of adoption services, especially around Gemini for Google workspace. We have done about 250 to 300 workshops at this point, which is pretty incredible from an investment standpoint for Google investing in…”
Kripapuri: Data integrity is the primary blocker for enterprise AI agents
“A lot of this still we feel like is grounded in the fact that organizations still struggle with data integrity, and that is fundamentally what is the primary blocker, right, in terms of like, you know, really AI, I mean, models and agents working and reaching …”
Kripapuri: AI will let workers query data without checking CRM or email
“I don't know what the timeframe is, but I feel like it'll be a day when I can just ask what I need to do, and I don't know how to go check my email, I don't know how to go check my CRM, I don't know how to check my financial systems, I'll be able to interact w…”
Promevo CEO asks employees to become 30% more effective using AI
“Internally to our organization, we are asking our people to be. 30% more effective, right? I don't, I never use the word efficient because efficiency means like all kinds of weird things and people are like, oh, what's about my job? It's not about it, right? I…”
Kripapuri: 99% of companies should consume AI as managed service
“99% of the companies, I would say, what they need is probably to consume this as a managed service, in my mind.”
Gold Bond saw 70% adoption with Gemini for Google Workspace
“Like Gold Bond, I think we have some, we have a few press releases with them, and they're a great example of a company that has, you know, started out, you know, a Google Workspace, Gemini for Google Workspace, and they saw 70% adoption, right?”
Kripapuri: AI models more often connect unneeded dots than admit ignorance
“More than not, it tries to connect dots that don't need to be connected in my mind sometimes.”
Kripapuri: Promevo generated multi-year departmental OKRs with Gemini in one hour
“We actually use Gemini to actually feed this into it. We actually fed this into our plans for twenty-twenty-six, and the OKRs by department aligned with our overall strategic objectives for a three-year time zone and the twenty-twenty-six plan, we did this in …”