Google named IDC MarketScape Leader in AI software

Google has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape Worldwide Foundation Model Software 2026 Vendor Assessment, placing it among the top vendors in a market becoming increasingly central to corporate technology spending.

The recognition comes as Google broadens its push around Gemini Enterprise, a system that brings together its AI tools for business users and developers. The offering combines a user-facing app with an agent platform that lets technical teams build and manage AI agents for business workflows.

IDC MarketScape assessments compare technology suppliers using qualitative and quantitative criteria, positioning them on a chart based on strategy and current execution. Here, the focus is foundation model software, an area where large technology groups are competing for contracts from companies looking to deploy generative AI in day-to-day operations.

Google linked the ranking to what it described as a long-running effort to build AI products on top of its existing cloud infrastructure, security systems and data platforms. It argued that business customers want reliability, security and predictable performance when moving AI tools into production environments.

Enterprise focus

At the centre of the latest pitch is Gemini Enterprise, which Google described as an end-to-end system designed to help organisations move beyond basic chatbot use toward software agents that can carry out more complex tasks across customer service and internal operations.

The structure has two parts: the Gemini Enterprise app for employees and business teams, and the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform for developers creating, orchestrating and governing AI agents behind the scenes.

According to Google, agents built on the platform can be surfaced inside the Gemini Enterprise app, allowing staff to use company-specific AI tools in a controlled environment. Governance, security and identity controls are built in by default, reflecting large organisations' concerns about compliance and operational risk.

The strategy highlights a broader shift in the AI market. Technology suppliers are increasingly packaging foundation models with software layers that make them easier for companies to adopt, manage and connect to existing business processes. The aim is not only to sell access to models, but also to provide the surrounding systems companies need to use AI at scale.

Model rollout

Google also used the announcement to highlight its latest model release, Gemini 3.5 Flash. The model sits within the Gemini 3.5 series and is positioned for multi-step tasks that require AI systems to carry out longer sequences of actions.

Developers can use Gemini 3.5 Flash on the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, as well as in Google AI Studio and Antigravity. Business users can access the model in the Gemini Enterprise app for workplace tasks.

That approach reflects how major cloud and AI providers are trying to serve both technical and non-technical users through the same product family. Developers want tools for building and testing systems, while corporate buyers often want a simpler front end that can be deployed to staff without custom development.

Competition in this segment has intensified as customers weigh not only model quality, but also cost, governance, integration and support for agent-based workflows. Market assessments such as IDC MarketScape can influence procurement discussions, particularly among large enterprises that use analyst rankings as one factor when shortlisting suppliers.

Google said its work in foundation model software is tied to research from Google DeepMind and to its in-house infrastructure. It argued that combining model development with its own hardware and cloud systems gives it a way to improve reasoning and efficiency across model generations.

For business customers, however, the more immediate question is whether vendors can turn that research into systems that meet established corporate requirements. Many companies remain cautious about rolling out generative AI broadly because of concerns over security, governance, data handling and the practical challenge of fitting new tools into existing workflows.

By emphasising a combined app-and-platform structure, Google is signalling that it sees the next phase of enterprise AI as less about isolated prompts and more about managed software agents that can retrieve information, use tools and complete tasks under human oversight. That framing has become a common theme across the industry as suppliers look for revenue beyond early experimentation.

Google said the latest ranking reflects that direction in the market and the way customers are evaluating suppliers for foundation model software.