Google Cloud NEXT ’26

title: I Didn’t Expect Google Cloud NEXT ’26 to Change How I Think About AI Development… But It Did published: true tags: googlecloud, vertexai, gemini, ai, cloud, devops cover_image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1620712943543-bcc4688e7485 This is a submission for the Google Cloud NEXT Writing Challenge I didn’t expect Google Cloud NEXT ’26 to actually change the way I think about building software. I thought it would be like every other tech event. New features. New announcements. New buzz