Business Insider reports that Google is ramping up its push for employees to adopt artificial intelligence tools across the organization, extending the expectation beyond software engineers to sales, strategy, and other non-technical teams.
Four employees with knowledge of the discussions told Business Insider that managers had been telling some non-technical staff in recent weeks that they would be expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows. In some cases, staff have been informed that the use of AI will be taken into account in their performance reviews later this year.
This development signals a broader cultural shift at one of the world’s largest technology companies to incorporate AI into key job expectations. Business Insider previously reported that Google has officially added the use of AI to the job requirements for some software engineers. The Wall Street Journal also reported that certain engineering roles will be evaluated depending on AI implementation.
According to Business Insider, the pressure now extends beyond engineering teams. Non-technical employees are encouraged to use AI tools to create strategy documents, analyze sales calls, and generate customer insights. Two sales employees said they were expected to use an in-house AI system that records calls and automatically generates notes, but some staff were given unofficial weekly usage targets.
Some teams have AI-related expectations written into formal role profiles. Two non-technical employees told Business Insider that they were explicitly told that the use of AI would be considered in Google’s internal performance evaluation process, known as Googler Reviews and Development (GRAD). One employee said that senior staff are expected to demonstrate better AI fluency than their junior colleagues.
A Google spokesperson told Business Insider that both technical and non-technical managers have discretion to evaluate employees based on their use of AI.
CEO Sundar Pichai has repeatedly said that deploying AI is a strategic priority. Last year, he told staff that competitors were leveraging AI internally and that Google needed to follow suit to stay competitive.
The company is steadily increasing its internal reliance on AI systems. During the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said that currently about 50 percent of Google’s code is generated by AI agents and then reviewed by engineers. In April, Pichai put the number at more than 30%, suggesting rapid growth is expected in the coming months.
Engineers are encouraged to use AI coding assistants that can generate code and answer technical questions. Other staff members are using internal tools such as a customized version of Google’s Gemini chatbot trained on internal documents and a coding assistant known internally as Goose, Business Insider previously reported.
Google restricts employee use of approved internal AI systems, in part to protect sensitive company information. Some tools are adapted from third-party software for internal deployment. For example, Cloud sales teams use an AI avatar tool called Yoodli to rehearse pitches before customer calls, Business Insider reports.
Google isn’t the only company raising expectations for AI. Business Insider reported that while Meta plans to evaluate employees on the impact of AI during performance reviews in 2026, Microsoft executives have informed employees that using AI is no longer an option.
Broad messages across Silicon Valley suggest that AI fluency is rapidly becoming a basic job requirement rather than a specialized skill. The challenge for Google going forward will be balancing productivity gains with employee concerns about monitoring and evolving performance benchmarks, especially as AI tools move from optional assistance to formal measures of effectiveness.
First publication date
