This week, I had the opportunity to attend the Google Meet Hardware & Voice Summit in France. The growth in yearly attendance of partners seems to reflect Google Meet’s double digit year-over-year growth in the market. It was great to catch up with the leading OEM’s and partners in the ecosystem.
The event highlighted how intelligent meeting spaces, platform consistency, and AI-driven productivity are rapidly reshaping the workplace. As organisations move away from fragmented solutions towards standardised, AI-enabled experiences, the Summit validated where the next big opportunities are.
There’s plenty to unpack, but here’s my top 5 takeaways…
1. Meeting rooms are becoming strategic infrastructure
Google shared strong momentum across EMEA and it’s clear that organisations are no longer experimenting with hybrid work; they’re now defining long-term standards.
There was one sentence in particular that caught my attention: “BYOD is a false economy”. And it’s hard to disagree with that statement. Google’s own data shows how unmanaged, laptop-driven meetings lead to inconsistency, lost time and under-utilised spaces. The notion of BYOD as “good enough” is fading fast. You simply can’t demonstrate ROI or drive workplace transformation when the baseline experience is fragmented. In contrast, hardware-enabled and standardised meeting rooms deliver predictable, scalable and repeatable collaboration, something businesses increasingly view as core infrastructure rather than optional add-ons.
2. AI built-in, not bolted on
Unsurprisingly, AI came up frequently but what stood out was how deeply embedded it is within Google Meet, especially through Gemini. It’s the engine underneath it all, quietly doing the work that makes meetings more focused, more inclusive and far more productive.
- ‘Take notes for me’ captures conversations in real time, supports multiple languages, and frees participants from having to be scribes. Everyone leaves the meeting aligned, with automatically generated summaries and key points. In combination with new features like enhanced notes that include presentation screenshots, it turns every conversation into a structured and actionable output.
- ‘Speech translator’ instantly translates a participant’s voice into another language. Imagine speaking in your native language and being heard in someone else’s. A powerful example of AI enabling real-time inclusion and understanding.
- AI-enhanced framing and camera intelligence ensure everyone is seen clearly and naturally, even in dynamic, hybrid room setups.
All of this shows that Gemini in Google Meet (and Workspace) is becoming a core part of everyday collaboration, reducing administrative burden, elevating engagement and setting a new baseline for what modern meetings should feel like.
3. Hardware innovation is accelerating
As expected, the event came with a wave of new hardware announcements. One theme was reinforced repeatedly: Android is becoming the new long-term standard.
We’ve seen this trend gaining momentum over the past year, even though many meeting spaces today still run on ChromeOS. Leading vendors like Logitech and HP have been championing the shift, now joined by Neat, whose design-led portfolio (including the Neat Board and Neat Center) adds serious strength to the Android lineup.
That said, ChromeOS isn’t going anywhere. It remains one of the most mature and feature-rich platforms on the market. Solutions like Lenovo Series One, Logitech Room Solutions, and ASUS continue to deliver outstanding performance, with support committed through 2030, ChromeOS will remain a strategic part of many meeting room ecosystems for years to come.
Let’s not forget the buzz around HP Dimension, which is bringing Google Beam to life. If you’re wondering what HP Dimension is all about, I covered it in more detail in a previous post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beam-me-up-google-maverick-snvbc/?trackingId=0amUtO5IkTSyGRYT%2B4oRNA%3D%3D
If timelines stay on track, expect to see it hit the market in early 2026!
4. Workplace experience, management & signage
With workplace utilisation now a key priority, companies are reassessing their real estate, adding or reducing meeting spaces based on evolving needs. The ‘return to office’ challenge is real, and data is becoming the most valuable tool in navigating it.
Space management platforms are helping organisations tackle common issues like ghost meetings. Comeen, for example, revealed that 31% of meeting rooms remain empty despite being booked. Metrics like these help drive real action and ensure office space is being used efficiently.
Beyond meeting rooms, digital signage is emerging as a powerful add-on to Google Meet room solutions. It extends to wayfinding, secure check-ins, and dynamic corporate messaging, all managed seamlessly via ChromeOS for scalable, centralised control.
These are all opportunities to optimise, personalise, and have meaningful conversations about creating a better, data-driven workplace experience.
5. What modern buyers really want
What makes a great meeting? It’s a simple question that reflects a much bigger shift in expectations. Today’s organisations want fully integrated collaboration ecosystems that blend seamlessly into their wider Google Workspace environment. From space management to digital signage, from AI productivity tools to workflow optimisation, it’s all part of the conversation.
This shift is also bringing more stakeholders to the table. What used to be an IT-led decision is now increasingly influenced by the C-suite, who see collaboration spaces as strategic investments with clear ROI. The boardroom has become the best place to showcase the value of a reliable, secure, and frictionless user experience.
Google is seeing this too. The demand is expanding beyond tech-centric companies. Retailers, frontline organisations, and fast-growing startups now expect enterprise-grade collaboration from day one. Not as a luxury, but as a core part of how they operate.
It’s clear that customers want integrated, future-ready environments built on platform thinking. The winners in this space will be the organisations/channel partners that can guide them toward connected, intelligent and scalable collaboration ecosystems that support the way they actually work.
At TD SYNNEX Maverick, we’re proud to be Europe’s leading distributor for Collaboration, UC, and Digital Signage, working across the full Google Workspace and Google Meet ecosystem. If any of these themes resonate with where your organisation is heading, I’d love to continue the conversation!
You can reach me directly at sven.berckmoes@tdsynnex.com
