Google recently announced that Gems are migrating to Skills—Wait, but what are Gems? Don’t worry; we’ll get you caught up to speed. For routine and repetitive tasks with AI, you don’t need to copy-paste a saved prompt for each chat: make a Skill instead. With Gems and Skills you attach a set of instructions, and optionally a knowledge base of files, for the AI assistant. According to Google’s published timeline, Gems will sunset in favor of Skills ultimately in June 2027, and be relegated in the meantime to more hidden parts of the Gemini app menu.

But this shift portends a more mutually compatible ecosystem across AI brands because Skill files follow industry conventions. (It’s not just Google; OpenAI is in the same boat.) The new Skill standard uses Markdown, lightweight formatting familiar to many from all the #’s and *’s visible before AI outputs render properly. Fortunately, you can now view and edit Skill files directly in Google Docs: no need to learn Markdown. Moreover, Skills outline a process that can be recycled across different AI platforms. Chatbots can follow routines spelled out in a “Skill,” and so too can agents. And unlike Gems, Skills can be invoked mid-conversation by the user without starting a separate chat, a tip from our own Justin Lefler, director of the Information Security Program.

What does this news mean in practical terms? Switching costs to change your AI workflows from one model provider or “harness” to another are at an all-time low. Take your Skills with you. Preferably to Gemini. 😉

For more on Skill-building, reach out to James Faulkner.