Google is replacing Gems in Gemini with skills: reusable instructions for a task you do often. The rollout in Google Workspace began on 5 October, and in the Gemini app on 13 October. For business accounts, Gems stop no sooner than 1 March 2027. Whatever is left then becomes a draft skill that its creator has to activate. If your team uses Gems, make a list now so March does not catch you out.
The details were checked on 11 October 2026. Google describes the business dates as "no sooner than", so they may still move. See the sources at the bottom for the current state.
What are skills in Gemini?
According to Google, a skill is a reusable set of instructions, knowledge or workflows that teaches an agent how to carry out a multi-step task. Gemini comes with a library of standard skills. Teams and departments can build their own and publish them to a company-wide registry, and you can also create personal skills (Google Cloud).
Think of a "review quote" skill: check the amounts against the price list, check the delivery terms and put the comments in a fixed table. Whoever uses the skill no longer has to type those instructions. This is a fictional example.
Skills are also the building blocks of the new Gemini agent that Google announced on 8 October. More on that in Gemini agent: Google's AI colleague with its own email address.
What changes when?
| When | What | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| From 5 October 2026 | Skills in Workspace, first for Rapid Release domains | Business accounts |
| From 13 October 2026 | Skills in the Gemini app, complete around mid-November | Everyone |
| From 19 October 2026 | Skills in Workspace for Scheduled Release domains | Business accounts |
| 17 November 2026 | Gems move to the Settings panel; you can still create and use them | Gemini app |
| No sooner than 1 March 2027 | Gems can no longer be created, edited or used | Workspace Business, Enterprise and non-profit |
| No sooner than 1 June 2027 | Gems go away | Workspace for Education |
Sources: Google Workspace Updates and Gemini Apps Help.
Rapid Release and Scheduled Release are the two release tracks your Workspace admin chooses. If you do not know which one you are on, ask: it decides whether you can see skills yet.
What happens to your existing Gems?
Gems that still exist on the cut-off date are automatically converted into draft skills. They keep their name, description, instructions and uploaded knowledge files, but they arrive as drafts: the creator has to activate them before they work (Gemini Apps Help).
Three things need attention:
- Skills do not sync between the Gemini app and Workspace. If you use a Gem both in the Gemini app and in Gmail or Docs, you have to recreate it as a skill in Workspace Studio (Gemini Apps Help).
- Automations with "Ask a Gem" will stop. In Workspace Studio, flows with the "Ask a Gem" step stop working from March 2027. Replace that step with "Ask Gemini" before then (Workspace Studio Help).
- A draft does nothing. If the creator of a widely used Gem has left, nobody activates the draft. Assign a new owner for such Gems now.
What should your team do now?
- Take stock. Ask the team which Gems they use, who made them and whether they are shared.
- Clean up. A Gem nobody uses does not need to come along.
- Choose an owner for each Gem you keep. They convert it into a skill, test it and maintain it.
- Check your automations. If "Ask a Gem" appears in a flow anywhere, plan the replacement.
- Keep shared skills in one place. A skill the whole team relies on belongs in the shared registry, not with one employee.
That last point goes beyond Gemini. Instructions your team relies on are company knowledge. Record where they live and who maintains them, just as in your AI policy.
When can you ignore this?
If nobody in your organisation uses Gems, the only change for you is that skills arrive. If you only use Gemini privately, your Gems move to Settings on 17 November and you can still use them. Do convert them before Google announces an end date there too.
Want to put your recurring AI tasks into skills or a workplace of your own? Take a look at the AI workplace or book a conversation.
Sources
- Google Workspace Updates, Introducing skills in the Gemini app and Workspace, plus what's next for Gems, September 2026.
- Gemini Apps Help, About the transition from Gems to skills, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Google Workspace Admin Help, About the transition from Gems to skills, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Workspace Studio Help, How Gems transition to skills impacts Workspace Studio flows, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Google Cloud, Thomas Kurian, Welcome to Gemini at Work 2026: Introducing the Gemini agent, 8 October 2026.
