AI Agents Reshaping Workflows: Google Executives See Transformation in Manufacturing and Media Industries
Google Cloud executives discussed the transformative impact of AI agents on the manufacturing and media industries. They emphasized that AI agents will redefine work processes, shifting human roles to supervision and management.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 26, 2026 at 11:17
- 🔍 Collected: April 26, 2026 at 11:31 (14 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 26, 2026 at 13:04 (1h 33m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Chang Hsin-yu, San Francisco, 25th) Silicon Valley is pushing for the Agentic Era, influencing Taiwan's industrial AI strategy. Praveen Rao, Google Cloud's Global Head of Manufacturing, and Albert Lai, Global General Manager of Media & Tech Industries, were interviewed by the Central News Agency to share how AI agents will impact these two major industries, pointing out that human roles will shift from participation to external supervision.
More than a dozen journalists and content creators from various countries gathered around a round table to personally experience how to build AI agents. This was a corner of the Google Cloud Next conference, and this scene is gradually becoming commonplace for high-tech companies.
Starting from Silicon Valley, enterprise employees collaborating with AI agents are redefining workflows.
Unlike chatbots like ChatGPT, AI agents can autonomously complete multi-tool, multi-step tasks according to their goals.
This is not just a vision but also reflects the current AI development trend in Silicon Valley, which will impact Taiwan's related industries' AI strategies. Participating e-commerce operator momo Fubon Media and SaaS software service provider 91APP both have AI agent deployment plans this year.
This wave of enthusiasm is also driving the growth of the AI supply chain. U.S. industry analyst Bob O'Donnell pointed out to the Central News Agency at the conference that this will be a "long-term trend," continuously boosting demand for chips and servers.
● Applications in Manufacturing: Operators Transform into 'AI Agent Managers'
Praveen Rao, Google Cloud's Global Head of Manufacturing, stated in an interview with the Central News Agency that in addition to playing a crucial role as a Google supplier, Taiwanese companies are also adopting Google's technology to accelerate digital transformation.
"We have close collaborations with Foxconn in multiple areas, as well as TSMC," Rao said. Foxconn applies technology internally and also deploys it when building factories in places like the U.S. For high-end manufacturing, this has become imperative.
He added that supply chain vendors are one of the most suitable areas to transform using agentic AI. Taking "procurement" as an example, raw material prices, exchange rates, and interest rates are constantly changing, and AI agents can track variables in real-time to optimize procurement decisions.
Furthermore, regarding workforce transformation, Rao said that the trend is towards transforming factory operators into "AI agent managers"; operators will no longer only engage in repetitive physical labor but will "supervise and manage the operation of AI agents."
U.S. appliance manufacturer GE Appliances announced at the conference that it is building over 800 AI agents.
"We are moving from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, and Industry 5.0 is built upon agentic AI; shifting from automation to autonomy," Rao emphasized. This critical shift is fundamentally transforming manufacturing from multiple dimensions.
● Agentic AI Applications in Media Industry: Human Creators Remain Core
In Taiwan, Google products are deeply embedded in the media industry ecosystem. Hsu Ting-yao, Chairman of Trendwave Technology, a digital marketing agency, pointed out in an interview that Google is the ideal choice due to development efficiency, controllable costs, and de-Sinicization compliance.
"Customers are no longer just talking about ROI (Return on Investment), but ROAI (Return on AI)," Albert Lai, Google Cloud's Global General Manager of Telecom, Media & Tech Industries, mentioned a new perspective in the industry during an interview with the Central News Agency.
Albert Lai pointed out that as consumers have "almost infinite content choices," media companies not only need to continuously invest in professional content production but also must balance time and cost pressures, finding new ways to attract audiences.
He believes that the media industry must therefore keep pace with the rapid evolution of cloud and AI, and the next core trend is "agentic AI." This involves "how you use these agents, build them, coordinate them, and govern them."
Regarding the news industry, Albert Lai shared potential application scenarios for agentic AI, including realizing "multi-step workflows": from writing topic ideation, multilingual research, internal database retrieval, to editorial guideline compliance review.
Another is "one-click multi-platform publishing": when a report is completed, the agentic AI autonomously initiates "conversion tasks," including format transformation, converting text reports into podcast scripts, generating audio files; as well as social media packaging, quickly producing text and images suitable for different platforms; and also one-click translation into multiple language versions, adjusting for different regional audiences.
He emphasized that AI applications will be widely tested in 2025, and 2026 will see a truly scaled, full deployment phase. AI provides value within existing processes, and "creators remain at the core, responsible for decision-making and approving content." (Editor: Tien Jui-hua) 1150426
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(Central News Agency reporter Chang Hsin-yu, San Francisco, 25th) Silicon Valley is pushing for the Agentic Era, influencing Taiwan's industrial AI strategy. Praveen Rao, Google Cloud's Global Head of Manufacturing, and Albert Lai, Global General Manager of Media & Tech Industries, were interviewed by the Central News Agency to share how AI agents will impact these two major industries, pointing out that human roles will shift from participation to external supervision.
More than a dozen journalists and content creators from various countries gathered around a round table to personally experience how to build AI agents. This was a corner of the Google Cloud Next conference, and this scene is gradually becoming commonplace for high-tech companies.
Starting from Silicon Valley, enterprise employees collaborating with AI agents are redefining workflows.
Unlike chatbots like ChatGPT, AI agents can autonomously complete multi-tool, multi-step tasks according to their goals.
This is not just a vision but also reflects the current AI development trend in Silicon Valley, which will impact Taiwan's related industries' AI strategies. Participating e-commerce operator momo Fubon Media and SaaS software service provider 91APP both have AI agent deployment plans this year.
This wave of enthusiasm is also driving the growth of the AI supply chain. U.S. industry analyst Bob O'Donnell pointed out to the Central News Agency at the conference that this will be a "long-term trend," continuously boosting demand for chips and servers.
● Applications in Manufacturing: Operators Transform into 'AI Agent Managers'
Praveen Rao, Google Cloud's Global Head of Manufacturing, stated in an interview with the Central News Agency that in addition to playing a crucial role as a Google supplier, Taiwanese companies are also adopting Google's technology to accelerate digital transformation.
"We have close collaborations with Foxconn in multiple areas, as well as TSMC," Rao said. Foxconn applies technology internally and also deploys it when building factories in places like the U.S. For high-end manufacturing, this has become imperative.
He added that supply chain vendors are one of the most suitable areas to transform using agentic AI. Taking "procurement" as an example, raw material prices, exchange rates, and interest rates are constantly changing, and AI agents can track variables in real-time to optimize procurement decisions.
Furthermore, regarding workforce transformation, Rao said that the trend is towards transforming factory operators into "AI agent managers"; operators will no longer only engage in repetitive physical labor but will "supervise and manage the operation of AI agents."
U.S. appliance manufacturer GE Appliances announced at the conference that it is building over 800 AI agents.
"We are moving from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, and Industry 5.0 is built upon agentic AI; shifting from automation to autonomy," Rao emphasized. This critical shift is fundamentally transforming manufacturing from multiple dimensions.
● Agentic AI Applications in Media Industry: Human Creators Remain Core
In Taiwan, Google products are deeply embedded in the media industry ecosystem. Hsu Ting-yao, Chairman of Trendwave Technology, a digital marketing agency, pointed out in an interview that Google is the ideal choice due to development efficiency, controllable costs, and de-Sinicization compliance.
"Customers are no longer just talking about ROI (Return on Investment), but ROAI (Return on AI)," Albert Lai, Google Cloud's Global General Manager of Telecom, Media & Tech Industries, mentioned a new perspective in the industry during an interview with the Central News Agency.
Albert Lai pointed out that as consumers have "almost infinite content choices," media companies not only need to continuously invest in professional content production but also must balance time and cost pressures, finding new ways to attract audiences.
He believes that the media industry must therefore keep pace with the rapid evolution of cloud and AI, and the next core trend is "agentic AI." This involves "how you use these agents, build them, coordinate them, and govern them."
Regarding the news industry, Albert Lai shared potential application scenarios for agentic AI, including realizing "multi-step workflows": from writing topic ideation, multilingual research, internal database retrieval, to editorial guideline compliance review.
Another is "one-click multi-platform publishing": when a report is completed, the agentic AI autonomously initiates "conversion tasks," including format transformation, converting text reports into podcast scripts, generating audio files; as well as social media packaging, quickly producing text and images suitable for different platforms; and also one-click translation into multiple language versions, adjusting for different regional audiences.
He emphasized that AI applications will be widely tested in 2025, and 2026 will see a truly scaled, full deployment phase. AI provides value within existing processes, and "creators remain at the core, responsible for decision-making and approving content." (Editor: Tien Jui-hua) 1150426
Choose to stand with facts, every sponsorship you make is a power to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency "First-hand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news.
All text, images, and videos on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or used without authorization.