Welcome: AI Inside Your Workspace

You already use Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides every day. As of 2025, every one of those apps has AI built in — and it’s included in your Google Workspace plan at no extra cost.

The catch: most people either don’t know these features exist or tried them once and got disappointing results. The difference isn’t the AI — it’s how you ask.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this lesson, you’ll know where Gemini lives in every Workspace app, the formula for writing prompts that produce useful results, and the boundaries of what AI can and can’t do in your workflow.

Where Gemini Lives

Gemini is integrated into Google Workspace in two ways:

1. The Side Panel

Click the Gemini icon (✨) in the upper right corner of any Workspace app. A chat panel opens where you can ask questions, request summaries, or get help — all in context of whatever you’re working on.

Available in: Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Chat.

2. Inline Features

Look for “Help me write” prompts that appear directly in your document or email. These let you generate or refine content without opening a separate panel.

Available in: Gmail (compose window), Docs (empty line or selected text), Sheets (side panel + =AI function).

What to Expect

Gemini in Workspace can do things that would have taken hours just two years ago:

App	What Gemini Can Do
Gmail	Draft emails, summarize threads, suggest replies, polish writing
Docs	Generate text, rewrite sections, change tone, create full documents
Sheets	Write formulas, analyze data, generate tables, classify information
Slides	Create presentations, generate images, suggest layouts, rewrite text
Meet	Take meeting notes, summarize discussions, list action items
Drive	Search files by description, summarize documents, answer questions about your files

✅ Quick Check: You want Gemini to help you write a project update email. Which two access methods could you use? (Answer: You can use the inline “Help me write” button in Gmail’s compose window to generate a draft directly, or open the Gemini side panel while in Gmail to ask it to draft an email for you. Both work — inline is faster for a quick draft, the side panel is better when you want to iterate on the prompt before inserting the text.)

The Prompt Formula

The biggest mistake people make with Gemini: writing vague prompts. Here’s the fix.

Bad Prompt

“Write a report”

Result: A generic, useless report about nothing in particular.

Good Prompt

“Write a one-page summary of our Q3 marketing results for the leadership team. Include: total spend ($45K), leads generated (1,200), cost per lead ($37.50), and comparison to Q2. Tone: professional and concise. Highlight that CPL dropped 15% quarter-over-quarter.”

Result: A focused, data-rich summary ready for minor edits.

The Formula

Context + Task + Constraints = Good Prompt

Context: What are you working on? Who’s the audience? What’s the background?
Task: What specific output do you need? (Draft, summarize, analyze, create)
Constraints: Format, length, tone, specific details to include or exclude

Examples by App

App	Prompt Example
Gmail	“Draft a polite follow-up to a client who hasn’t responded in 5 days. Reference the Q3 proposal. Keep it under 100 words.”
Docs	“Rewrite this paragraph to be more concise. Target a general audience. Remove jargon.”
Sheets	“Create a formula that calculates the average revenue per customer for each quarter, only including customers with more than 3 purchases.”
Slides	“Create a 5-slide presentation on our 2026 product roadmap. Include: timeline, key milestones, team assignments, and budget overview.”

✅ Quick Check: You ask Gemini: “Summarize this.” What’s wrong with this prompt, and how would you improve it? (Answer: “Summarize this” gives no context or constraints. Gemini doesn’t know what length, what audience, or what details matter. Better: “Summarize this email thread in 3 bullet points for my manager. Focus on the decisions made and action items assigned.” The improved version specifies format (bullet points), audience (manager), length (3 points), and focus (decisions and actions).)

What Gemini Can’t Do (Yet)

Be honest about the limitations:

It doesn’t know your company secrets. Gemini doesn’t have access to your company’s internal knowledge unless you reference specific files.
It can get facts wrong. AI generates plausible-sounding text that may contain errors. Always fact-check numbers, dates, and names.
It can’t read your mind. Vague prompts get vague results. The quality of the output directly reflects the specificity of your prompt.
It has usage limits. Depending on your plan, you may hit daily or monthly limits on AI requests.
Some features vary by plan. Business Starter gets fewer features than Business Plus or Enterprise.

How This Course Works

Each of the next six lessons focuses on one app (or app combination):

Lesson	App Focus	What You’ll Master
2	Gmail	Draft, summarize, reply, polish
3	Docs	Write, refine, create documents
4	Sheets	Formulas, analysis, =AI() function
5	Slides + Meet	Presentations and meeting notes
6	Drive + NotebookLM	Search, summarize, research
7	Multi-app workflows	Combine apps for complex tasks
8	Capstone	Full AI-powered workday

What to Expect: Each lesson takes 10-15 minutes and includes prompts you can copy and try immediately in your own workspace. No setup required — just open the app and start.

Key Takeaways

Gemini is built into Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Drive — no extra tools needed
Access it via the side panel (✨ icon) or inline features like “Help me write”
Better prompts = better results: always include context, task, and constraints
AI output is a first draft — always review before sending or sharing
This course teaches you specific prompts for each app that produce immediately useful results

Up Next

In the next lesson, you’ll master Gmail’s AI features: drafting emails from scratch, summarizing long threads, polishing your writing, and using smart replies that actually sound like you.