In our latest episode of the SaaStr What’s New series, SaaStr CEO and founder Jason Lemkin spoke with Sarah Kennedy, VP of Google Cloud Marketing. The conversation explored Google Cloud’s rapid growth, its AI-first approach, and what the future holds for the cloud ecosystem.
5 Interesting Learnings from Google Cloud’s Journey with AI
Here are five key learnings about AI at Google Cloud from the interview with Sarah Kennedy:
1.Google Cloud is Growing Fast, Fueled by Customers Deploying AI
Google Cloud has been on a tear lately, growing at a rate of 30% quarter over quarter based on its most recent Q4 results. Sarah, who has been with Google for five years, reflected on the transformation from a $12 billion run rate to more than triple that today. The core drivers? A world-class AI stack, a commitment to flexibility and choice, and a long-term vision that empowers customers to migrate at their own pace.
“In the last three to four years, we won a lot of business through single workloads,” Sarah shared. “And now, those who took a bet on us early are migrating more and more, especially with AI.”
While AI is at the forefront of every conversation, Google Cloud’s growth extends beyond that. The company has been deliberate about providing flexibility—customers aren’t forced into an all-or-nothing migration. Instead, Google Cloud enables companies to experiment with modern app workloads before expanding their footprint.
But the real tipping point? AI.
“We were the third-place player in the cloud space, but we’re becoming the first choice in AI,” Sarah explained. “CIOs and CTOs are under pressure from their boards to stay ahead, and Google Cloud is the partner that can keep them there.”
2. AI is a Developer-Led Movement
AI adoption isn’t just happening at the executive level—it’s being driven bottom-up by developers. While CIOs are accountable for AI strategy, developers are the ones selecting, testing, and deploying AI models, Google Cloud is now seeing a resurgence in the power of the developer making the decisions in AI.
“CIOs are accountable, but they’re learning from their developers,” she said. “It’s a truly bottom-up moment, and marketing to developers has never been more important.”
This shift makes marketing to developers more critical than ever, and Google Cloud is responding with training programs, hands-on labs, and certifications to ensure enterprises have the talent they need. AI adoption is not just a top-down initiative. Sarah emphasized that developers are leading the charge.
3. Partnering with Salesforce & Why Security is Now an AI Priority
As AI capabilities expand, so do security concerns. Google Cloud customers are increasingly demanding AI solutions that are built with enterprise-grade security. The recent Salesforce-Google Cloud deal was driven in large part by customer demand to run Salesforce solutions on Google Cloud’s highly secure infrastructure. AI security and data governance are becoming CIO-level priorities, and Google Cloud is uniquely positioned to address them.
Security and AI are increasingly intertwined. With enterprises investing heavily in AI, they need assurance that their data remains protected. The recent Salesforce-Google Cloud partnership is a testament to this.
“Customers told us, ‘We want to run Salesforce on Google Cloud because of security, compute efficiency, and AI capabilities,’” Sarah noted. “The fact that we offer an open platform with multiple models on Vertex AI gives CIOs much-needed flexibility in a fast-changing world.”
4. AI is Becoming More Cost-Efficient and Ubiquitous
The fear that AI would be too expensive for broad adoption is fading fast. Google Cloud is optimizing its AI models and infrastructure, with advances like Flashlight (a lightweight AI model) and energy-efficient TPUs in Google’s data centers. This is driving costs down to the point where Jason Lemkin predicts a “no-limits” era, where AI will be so cost-effective that companies can integrate it into every application and process.
A year ago, AI’s cost was a major concern, but enterprises are becoming more efficient in managing resources. Sarah pointed to Google’s infrastructure—its data centers’ cooling efficiencies, TPU optimizations, and the launch of lighter-weight models like Flashlight—as game-changers.
“We’re entering an era where AI at the application level has no limits,” Jason added. “Why can’t my app do everything? The cost is coming down so rapidly that soon, it won’t be a barrier.”
5. AI is Reshaping Workflows Across Every Function
AI isn’t just a tool for engineering teams—it’s transforming every department. Sarah emphasized that AI is already changing marketing, customer service, operations, and more. Google Cloud’s approach to agentic AI (AI-powered assistants for different roles) is helping companies automate tasks, improve decision-making, and supercharge human productivity. The next step? Ensuring every enterprise team, from creatives to finance, can leverage AI effectively.
Google Next 2025: The Ultimate AI and Cloud Event
With 32,000 attendees expected, including 15,000 developers, Google Next 2025 is set to be bigger than ever.
Next is not just about product launches—it’s a rallying point for customers, developers, and the entire ecosystem to connect, learn, and experiment with AI in real-time.
Stay tuned for Google Cloud’s presence at SaaStr Annual 2025, where we’ll dive even deeper into AI’s impact on SaaS growth and innovation!
