Introducing skills in the Gemini app and Workspace, plus what’s next for Gems

22/10/2026

Google has just announced a significant shift in the architecture of its digital assistant: the integration of "Skills" into the Gemini app and its entire ecosystem - Google Workspace customers. This new feature allows users to create customizable, reusable sets of instructions, and it will eventually fully replace the familiar "Gems" tool. This strategic enhancement is designed to improve modularity, facilitate deeper interoperability, and standardize the AI experience within both corporate and educational environments.

Table of contents

What are "Skills" in Gemini and Google Workspace?

From a technical standpoint, "Skills" are sets of standardized, customized instructions—stored as modules—designed to guide the Gemini model in executing specific tasks consistently. Users can activate these skills at any time while entering prompts, whether within the standalone Gemini application or directly inside familiar productivity tools such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, Gmail, and Google Slides.

Some typical application scenarios include:

Brand Voice: Establish a set of guidelines covering writing style, industry terminology, and text length to be applied to all blog posts, press releases, or marketing emails.
Data analysis and partner evaluation process: Provide a set of supplier screening criteria, allowing AI to automatically cross-reference quotation data and generate a comparison table.
Pedagogical and educational support: Develop skills in preparing standard lesson plans or creating test questions that align closely with the curriculum.

Currently, the skill database is not automatically synchronized in both directions between the Gemini application and the Google Workspace system. If a user wishes to use the same skill on both the Gemini mobile/web application and the Google Docs toolbar, that skill must be created independently on each respective platform.

The core difference between Skills and Gems

Although both serve the purpose of customizing AI responses, Skills offer significant technical advancements over their predecessors, Gems:

Skill Stacking

The primary limitation of Gems is their siloed nature: each Gem functions as an independent chatbot, forcing users to switch back and forth between different Gems. In contrast, Skills operate directly within a unified chat stream. Users can combine or “stack” multiple different Skills simultaneously within a single prompt.

Example:

Corporate environment: Personnel can combine the skill of “evaluating bid documents” with the skill of “drafting emails to the executive team” to extract a bidder’s strengths and automatically generate a report for leadership—all within a single prompt.
Educational environment: Teachers can combine the skill of “summarizing weekly newsletters” with the skill of “adhering to school communication standards” to produce newsletters that are both comprehensive and aligned with the required tone.

Standardized on the open-source SKILL.md format

Skills are built entirely upon the SKILL.md open-documentation standard, which supports the Markdown format. This enhancement eliminates "vendor lock-in," enabling engineers and specialists to easily export, replicate, or import pre-configured skill sets from other AI platforms into Gemini and Google Workspace applications.

Roadmap for discontinuing support for Gems and key milestones

Google has announced a clear roadmap to ensure organizations and individual users have sufficient time to prepare for the transition from Gems to Skills, without causing any disruption to their work:

Current status of Gems

Users can still create, edit, and use Gems within the Gemini app. However, the ability to create new workflows in Workspace Studio that include an "Ask a Gem" step has been disabled. Existing workflows that already incorporate this step will continue to function as usual until support for them ends.

Specific transition timelines

Specific transition timelines	Event deployment on the Google system
05/10/2026	Rollout of the Skills feature in Google Workspace begins (to be completed by mid-November 2026).
13/10/2026	Begin rolling out Skills within the Gemini app (to be completed by mid-November 2026).
17/11/2026	The Gems management section has been moved to the Settings menu of the Gemini app; users can still create, edit, and use them as usual.
Từ 01/03/2027 (Doanh nghiệp)	Gems for the enterprise sector has been officially discontinued. Gems have been removed from Settings, and it is no longer possible to create or edit them. "Ask a Gem" steps within Workspace Studio flows have ceased to function. All existing Gems have been automatically converted into draft skills within the Gemini application.
Từ 01/06/2027 (Giáo dục)	Gems is being officially discontinued for the Education sector. Gems are being removed from the Gemini app, Google Classroom, and learning management systems (LMS) that integrate Gemini via LTI. All existing Gems will be automatically converted into skill drafts.

System administrators will receive a detailed notification from Google at least 30 days before the system begins the automatic data migration process.

Action guide for administrators and users

To ensure a seamless transition and maintain full labor productivity, the relevant groups should proactively take the following steps:

For Administrators:

Internal communications: Proactively notify all employees—especially those in departments that rely heavily on automated workflows within Workspace Studio—about the timelines for the discontinuation of Gems support.
Encourage early manual conversion: Guide personnel on restructuring key Gems into Skills directly within the application interface of Gemini and Google Docs to check for contextual compatibility before proceeding with the mandatory automation phase.
Education Sector: For schools using Google Classroom or the Gemini LTI portal, administrators should guide teachers to transition to using Gemini Notebook and the Guided Learning tool.

For End Users:

Proactively reskill: Open the Skills Builder directly within Google Docs or the Gemini app to reconfigure core prompts.
Structure formatting using Markdown: Leverage the SKILL.md standard to clearly structure sections: Objective, Guidelines, Context, and Desired output format.
Review the Workspace Studio process: Gradually replace the old “Ask Gem” steps with new, skill-integrated steps to prevent the workflow from suddenly ceasing to function in March 2027.

Compatibility and service plan terms of use

Google implements a policy for feature distribution based on subscription plan tiers and user age:

Tốc độ phát hành theo miền (Release Domains)

Trên ứng dụng Gemini: Cả hai miền Phát hành Nhanh (Rapid Release) và Phát hành Định kỳ (Scheduled Release) bắt đầu triển khai từ ngày 13/10/2026 và hoàn thành vào giữa tháng 11/2026.
Trên Google Workspace:
- Miền Phát hành Nhanh: Triển khai từ ngày 05/10/2026 đến ngày 12/10/2026.
- Miền Phát hành Định kỳ: Triển khai từ ngày 19/10/2026 đến giữa tháng 11/2026.

Điều kiện sử dụng theo gói bản quyền

Standalone Gemini app: Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as individuals with personal Google accounts of any age.
Skills feature in Google Workspace:
- Google Workspace Business editions: Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus.
- Google Workspace Enterprise editions: Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus.
- Education sector: Google AI Pro for Education add-on.
- Customers with the AI Expanded Access add-on.
Age requirement: The Skills feature, integrated directly into Workspace applications, is available only to users aged 18 and older.

Technology transition and process optimization with Gimasys

The shift from Gems to Skills is more than just a UI update; it is an opportunity to restructure your organization’s knowledge library and automate workflows. Partnering with a highly specialized expert is key to optimizing this transition:

Trusted Google Cloud Premier Partner: With over 20 years of experience in digital transformation consulting and implementation in Vietnam, Gimasys is a premier partner specializing in Google Workspace licensing and comprehensive enterprise AI deployment.
Change Management Training: Gimasys provides tailored training programs, guiding specific business functions—such as HR, Marketing, Sales, and Legal—on standardizing prompt processes, building skill libraries based on the SKILL.md standard, and testing workflows within Workspace Studio.
Cost optimization and transparent compliance:
- Assistance in optimizing your Gemini Enterprise and Google Workspace licensing portfolio
- Convenient payment options in Vietnamese Dong (VND), with full, legally compliant VAT invoices provided to simplify tax documentation for your finance and accounting departments.
In-depth technical support: Our team of engineers, holding advanced certifications from Google, is always ready to assist with security audits, ensure the safety of internal data, and provide continuous system troubleshooting.

The transition from "Gems" to "Skills" marks a significant evolution for Gemini, transforming AI into a versatile operational tool that can be configured for various tasks tailored to the specific needs of individuals and organizations. Staying ahead of key timelines and proactively standardizing your digital skill set will help your business maintain operational continuity and gain a competitive edge in productivity.

If your organization is looking to upgrade its Google Workspace license, subscribe to a Gemini AI plan, or requires expert guidance on transitioning from Gems to Skills, please contact Gimasys today for comprehensive technical support.