Vertex AI Is Now Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform: Name Changes, What Changed, and a Migration Checklist
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Mohit - 17 Oct, 2026
- Updated 27 Oct, 2026

If you open the Google Cloud console today and search for Vertex AI, you’ll land somewhere new: Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. On April 22, 2026, Google introduced Agent Platform as “the evolution of Vertex AI” and renamed dozens of products in the process: Agent Engine became Agent Runtime, Vertex AI Search became Agent Search, Vertex AI Studio became Agent Studio, and so on.
For teams with production workloads, documentation, and training material built around Vertex AI, the question isn’t “what’s the new name?” so much as “what do I actually have to change?” This guide answers both: the complete name mapping, what changed and what didn’t, the 2026 changes that do require work, and a migration checklist.
If your organization licenses Gemini for employees through Google Workspace, the end-user side is covered in our Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform introduction. This post focuses on the Google Cloud platform side.
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
What Happened: Vertex AI Renamed to Agent Platform
Vertex AI launched in May 2021, combining AutoML and the legacy AI Platform into one machine learning service. Over the following years it added generative AI, Model Garden, Vertex AI Search and Conversation, and Agent Builder.
On April 22, 2026, at Google Cloud Next, Google introduced Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (a platform to build, scale, govern, and optimize agents) and made two commitments that matter for planning:
- Agent Platform combines Vertex AI’s model selection, model building, and agent building with new features for agent integration, DevOps, orchestration, and security.
- All Vertex AI services and roadmap evolutions will be delivered exclusively through Agent Platform, not as a standalone Vertex AI service.
In short: Vertex AI didn’t disappear, it became one part of a larger platform. New features will only arrive under the Agent Platform name.
Gemini Enterprise vs. Agent Platform: Two Products, One Name Family
The rebrand created two products with similar names. Keep them straight:
| Gemini Enterprise | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Who uses it | Employees | Developers, data scientists, platform teams |
| What it is | The AI app: chat, enterprise search, Deep Research, notebooks, agents | The platform to build, deploy, govern, and optimize models and agents |
| Formerly | Google Agentspace (and parts of Vertex AI Search) | Vertex AI |
| Billing | Per-user editions (Business, Standard, Plus, Frontline) or pay-as-you-go | Usage-based Google Cloud billing |
| Where it lives | Gemini Enterprise app and Workspace | Google Cloud console |
Agents you build on Agent Platform can be published to employees through the Gemini Enterprise app, which is why the two are often discussed together.
The Name-Change Table

Google’s official name-change list is long. These are the entries most teams will meet:
Platform and generative AI
| Old name | New name |
|---|---|
| Vertex AI / Vertex AI Platform | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (short: Agent Platform) |
| Generative AI on Vertex AI | Generative AI on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI API | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform API |
| Vertex AI Studio | Agent Studio on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Studio App Builder | App Builder in Agent Studio |
| Vertex AI Media Studio | Agent Media Studio |
| Vertex AI Model Garden | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Model Garden |
| Gemini / Imagen / Veo on Vertex AI | [Model name] on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Claude / Llama / DeepSeek on Vertex AI | [Model name], available on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Gemini Live API on Vertex AI | Gemini Live API on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Prompt management in Vertex AI | Prompt management in Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Gen AI evaluation service on Vertex AI | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Evals |
Agents, search, and retrieval
| Old name | New name |
|---|---|
| Vertex AI Agent Engine | Agent Runtime on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Agent Engine Sessions | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Sessions |
| Agent Engine Memory Bank | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Memory Bank |
| Agent Engine Code Execution | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Code Execution |
| Vertex AI Search | Agent Search on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Search for Industry | Agent Search for Industry |
| Vertex AI Search for Commerce | AI Commerce Search on Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience |
| Vertex AI Conversation | Agent Conversation |
| Vertex AI Vector Search | Vector Search on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Vector Search 2.0 | Agent Retrieval |
| RAG Engine | RAG Engine (unchanged) |
Machine learning and MLOps
| Old name | New name |
|---|---|
| Vertex AI Training | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Managed Training |
| Vertex AI Serverless Training | Serverless Training |
| Vertex AI Training Clusters | Managed Training Clusters |
| Vertex AI Pipelines | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Pipelines |
| Vertex AI Endpoints | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Endpoints |
| Vertex AI Batch / Online Inference | Batch Inference / Online Inference on Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Workbench / Colab Enterprise | Workbench / Colab Enterprise on Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Feature Store | Feature Store on Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Model Registry | Model Registry on Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Model Monitoring | Model Monitoring on Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI Experiments | Experiments on Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI AutoML | AutoML on Agent Platform |
| Vertex AI in Firebase | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform in Firebase |
| Vertex AI on GDC | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform on Google Distributed Cloud |
The pattern is simple: most products swap “Vertex AI” for “Agent Platform,” and a handful of high-profile ones get new names (Agent Studio, Agent Runtime, Agent Search, Agent Retrieval, Managed Training, Evals).
What Changed in the Console
The Agent Platform console is organized around the agent lifecycle:
| Section | What’s in it |
|---|---|
| Build | Agent Development Kit (ADK), Agent Studio, Agent Garden templates, Model Garden, RAG Engine, Vector Search, Managed Agents API |
| Scale | Agent Runtime, Sessions, Memory Bank, Code Execution |
| Govern | Agent Registry, Agent Identity, Agent Gateway, governance policies, AI threat and vulnerability scanning |
| Optimize | Agent evaluation, simulation, observability, prompt optimization |
Model building, training, pipelines, and endpoints are grouped under Models. Searching for “Vertex AI” in the console redirects to Agent Platform.
What Didn’t Change
For most existing workloads, the rename was a branding change:
- Your resources keep working. Models, endpoints, pipelines, and deployed agents weren’t recreated.
- The core API service is still
aiplatform.googleapis.com: the display name changed to “Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform API.” Projects that already have it enabled don’t need to enable anything new for existing workloads. - Model Garden and model access carried over, now with more than 200 models.
- RAG Engine kept its name.
New governance features may prompt you to enable additional APIs the first time you use them (for example, for Agent Registry and Model Armor).
The Changes That Do Need Work
The rename was painless. Several other changes in 2026 weren’t. Check each one against your workloads.
1. Python SDK 2.0.1 is a breaking change
On September 18, 2026, the Agent Platform SDK for Python 2.0.1 moved generative AI modules to the Google Gen AI SDK and split the agent surface out of google-cloud-aiplatform into its own package. Google calls it a breaking change and published a migration guide.
What to do: pin your current SDK version in requirements.txt, read the migration guide, and upgrade in a test environment before production.
2. Model retirements
- Gemini 2.0 Flash and 2.0 Flash-Lite were discontinued on June 1, 2026, including Provisioned Throughput.
- Preview endpoints for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, 2.5 Flash, and 3.1 Flash-Lite were retired on July 9, 2026.
- Sixteen open model endpoints, including
deepseek-v3.2-maas,glm-5-maas, andqwen3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507-maas, were retired on October 21, 2026 (announced July 21). Calls to them no longer work. - Gemini 3.6 Flash and 3.5 Flash-Lite reached GA on July 21, 2026 with breaking changes to sampling, penalty, and turn-structure parameters.
What to do: search your code and configuration for hard-coded model IDs, move to current versions, and re-run your evaluation set after switching: new models can change output.
3. Agent Studio web apps created before July 1, 2026
A security fix for an SSRF issue in Agent Studio (July 20, 2026) required regenerating and redeploying web apps created before July 1, 2026. If your team published Agent Studio apps in the first half of 2026, confirm they were redeployed.
4. Agent Runtime billing changes
From September 1, 2026, Memory Bank embedding SKUs changed and session and Memory Bank compute started being metered on the Agent Platform compute SKU. Check your billing reports for new line items if you use Sessions or Memory Bank.
Migration Checklist
| # | Task | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Update internal docs, runbooks, and architecture diagrams to the new names | Platform team |
| 2 | Update training material and certification prep: exams now use the new names (see our exam guide) | L&D / team leads |
| 3 | Inventory SDK versions across repos; pin versions | Developers |
| 4 | Plan the Python SDK 2.0.1 migration in a test environment | Developers |
| 5 | Search for retired model IDs and preview endpoints; switch and re-evaluate | Developers / ML |
| 6 | Confirm Agent Studio apps created before July 1, 2026 were regenerated | App owners |
| 7 | Review billing for new Agent Runtime, Sessions, and Memory Bank SKUs | FinOps |
| 8 | Update monitoring dashboards and alert names that reference “Vertex” | SRE |
| 9 | Review new governance features (Agent Identity, Registry, Gateway) for adoption | Security |
| 10 | Update vendor contracts and procurement records to the new product names | Procurement |
New Capabilities Worth Adopting
The rebrand came with real new features. These are the ones most teams should look at first:
- Agent Runtime: sub-second cold starts and long-running agents that can run for up to 7 days, with revisions and traffic splitting for canary deployments (preview).
- Agent Identity: a native IAM identity type for agents, with least-privilege permissions and non-repudiable audit; the Agent Identity API is in Preview.
- Agent Registry: one catalog of agents, tools, and MCP servers across your organization, to spot agent sprawl.
- Agent Gateway: a policy enforcement point for agent traffic with Model Armor protection against prompt injection, tool poisoning, and data leakage.
- Agent evaluation and observability: online monitors for drift in production, simulation with synthetic users, and end-to-end tracing.
- Agent Studio: a low-code visual builder whose logic can be exported to ADK for full-code development.
Conclusion
The move from Vertex AI to Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform is mostly a new name and a bigger scope: your projects, endpoints, and models kept working, and the core API is the same service. What needs attention are the changes that arrived alongside the rebrand: the Python SDK 2.0.1 split, model retirements, the Agent Studio security fix, and new billing SKUs.
Update your documentation and training first, then work through the code and billing items. And if your users access agents through Gemini Enterprise and Google Workspace, make sure the platform team and the Workspace admins share one naming guide so support tickets stop asking where Vertex AI went.
Official Google documentation:
- Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform name changes
- Introducing Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform
- Agent Platform overview
- Agent Platform release notes
- Agent Platform SDK for Python 2.0.1 migration guide
Related reading:
- Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform: Introduction and Integration: editions, features, and Workspace integration.
- Gemini Enterprise Exam Prep and Practice Questions: the certification now uses the new product names.
- Google’s New Gemini Agent: Gemini at Work 2026: the agent experience built on top of the platform.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Vertex AI discontinued?
- Vertex AI wasn't shut down; it was renamed and expanded. On April 22, 2026 Google introduced Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform as the evolution of Vertex AI, and said all Vertex AI services and roadmap evolutions will be delivered exclusively through Agent Platform. Existing Vertex AI capabilities such as Model Garden, training, pipelines, and endpoints continue under new names.
- What is Vertex AI Agent Engine called now?
- Vertex AI Agent Engine is now Agent Runtime on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. Its Sessions, Memory Bank, and Code Execution features are now called Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Sessions, Memory Bank, and Code Execution.
- What is Vertex AI Search called now?
- Vertex AI Search is now Agent Search on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. Vertex AI Search for Commerce became AI Commerce Search on Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, Vertex AI Vector Search is Vector Search on Agent Platform, and Vector Search 2.0 is now Agent Retrieval.
- Do I need to change my code after the Vertex AI rename?
- The rename itself didn't force code changes, but other changes in 2026 may. The Agent Platform SDK for Python 2.0.1 (September 18, 2026) moved generative AI modules to the Google Gen AI SDK and split agent features into a separate package, which is a breaking change. Several older Gemini model versions and preview endpoints were also retired. Pin SDK versions and follow Google's migration guide.
- What's the difference between Gemini Enterprise and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform?
- Gemini Enterprise is the application employees use: chat, enterprise search, Deep Research, notebooks, and agents, licensed per user. Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (formerly Vertex AI) is the Google Cloud platform developers use to build, deploy, govern, and optimize models and agents, billed by usage. Agents built on Agent Platform can be delivered to employees through the Gemini Enterprise app.