Google Cloud Next 2026: The Agenda for Data Platform Professionals

bigquery

looker

events

A curated guide to the best sessions at Google Cloud Next 2026 for data engineers, architects, and analysts focusing on BigQuery, Looker, and Agentic AI.

Published

April 15, 2026

With Google Cloud Next 2026 approaching, picking the right sessions can be overwhelming.

No worries—I’ve curated the most impactful, still-available sessions focused on BigQuery, Looker, and Agentic AI.

Whether you want to optimize FinOps, build lakehouses, or embed AI agents in BI tools, this shortlist will help you get the most out of the event.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Time	Title	Tags
9:00 AM	Opening keynote: The agentic cloud	`AI/Agents`
11:00 AM	Zero to scale: Rapid development with Google Cloud & MCP Toolbox for database	`Data Platform`
12:15 PM	What’s new in BigQuery: The data platform for agentic AI	`BigQuery` `AI/Agents`
12:15 PM	Next-gen FinOps for the AI era	`AI/Agents` `FinOps`
12:30 PM	Supercharging ELT on Google Cloud with Dataform, dbt, and Airflow	`Data Platform`
12:30 PM	The agentic revolution: Redefining the data science life cycle	`AI/Agents`
1:30 PM	From vision to value: Powering the agentic enterprise, together	`AI/Agents`
1:30 PM	BigQuery multimodal analytics with generative AI	`BigQuery` `AI/Agents`
1:30 PM	BigQuery Graph: Uncover complex, hidden relationships in your data	`BigQuery` `Data Platform`
2:00 PM	Data Professionals Meetup	`Data Platform`
2:30 PM	Data Engineering Agent: Your partner for BigQuery and the open lakehouse	`BigQuery` `AI/Agents`
3:45 PM	Data governance on autopilot: Secure and track your data for AI	`AI/Agents` `Data Platform`
4:00 PM	Real-time analytics and transactional lakehouses
4:00 PM	Agentic analytics for Looker developers	`Looker` `AI/Agents`
5:00 PM	Beyond the warehouse: Architecting BigQuery for the future of analytics	`BigQuery`
5:15 PM	What’s new with data and AI governance: Building the catalog for AI	`AI/Agents` `Data Platform`

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Time	Title	Tags
8:00 AM	Build transactional lakehouses with AlloyDB, Lakehouse, and BigQuery	`BigQuery`
8:15 AM	Unlock data insights: Conversational Analytics agents, API, and MCP	`AI/Agents`
9:00 AM	Data roles for the genAI era	`AI/Agents` `Data Platform`
10:30 AM	The agentic era of data: Conversational BI agents in action	`AI/Agents`
1:15 PM	What’s new with data agents	`AI/Agents`
1:30 PM	Data economy: Turn your data from a cost center into a revenue engine	`Data Platform` `FinOps`
1:30 PM	Optimize BigQuery observability and FinOps for the agentic era	`BigQuery` `AI/Agents` `FinOps`
2:45 PM	Define once, trust everywhere: The semantic layer for governed AI	`AI/Agents`
3:00 PM	BigQuery and Looker Studio patterns	`BigQuery` `Looker`
4:30 PM	Building a high-margin data cloud practice in the agentic era	`AI/Agents`
5:00 PM	Bridging worlds: Bringing Google Cloud Platform’s power to open source data lakes	`Data Platform`
5:15 PM	From chaos to trusted agents: Master the semantic standard with LookML	`AI/Agents`

Friday, April 24, 2026

Time	Title	Tags
8:30 AM	From data to dashboard: Empower BigQuery users with Looker Studio	`BigQuery` `Looker` `Data Platform`
8:45 AM	Data Validation at Scale: Architecting an AI-Native Validation Engine	`Data Platform`
9:45 AM	Agent development and AgentOps with BigQuery, ADK, and MCP	`BigQuery` `AI/Agents`
9:45 AM	Dashboard agents: Natural language self-service built into Looker	`Looker` `AI/Agents`
11:00 AM	From assets to action: Data products to power AI agents	`AI/Agents`
11:00 AM	Monetize the moment: AI-powered apps with Looker embedded	`Looker`
12:30 PM	Agent development and AgentOps with BigQuery, ADK, and MCP	`BigQuery` `AI/Agents`
12:30 PM	Enable autonomous data agents with BigQuery and Cloud Run	`BigQuery` `AI/Agents`

See you in Vegas!

Data platforms and AI agents are now inseparable — it’s not just about data pipelines, but about building intelligent, cost-optimized, and conversational workflows.

Book a seat for your picks in the Agenda Builder. See you in Vegas!