Automate data monitoring and root-cause analysis with Looker Agentic Workflows

Google Cloud announced the preview of Looker Agentic Workflows, a new capability in Looker that automates metric monitoring and root-cause analysis using intelligent background agents. The feature allows users to set up continuous monitoring routines via natural language prompts, and when a metric crosses a defined threshold, the agent automatically runs a Key Driver Analysis and delivers a diagnostic summary to Slack or email. Looker Agentic Workflows is available in preview for Looker version 26.08 and later.

Traditional business intelligence alerts can only tell you that a metric changed, leaving data analysts to manually hunt through dashboards to figure out why. Today, we are introducing Looker Agentic Workflows https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/conversational-analytics-looker-agentic-workflows in preview, a new capability in Looker that automates both metric monitoring and root-cause analysis, using intelligent background agents. With Conversational Analytics in Looker, teams can already query business data using natural language. Looker Agentic Workflows turns those ad-hoc questions into continuous, automated monitoring routines directly from the chat interface. You can set up an automation simply by prompting the agent, such as asking to "Monitor return rates weekly" or "Notify me if average order value exceeds $1,000." The agent interprets your intent, confirms specific threshold conditions, and generates a workflow configuration plan for you to review before launching the monitor. When a metric crosses your defined threshold, the background agent does more than send a basic notification. It can automatically run a Key Driver Analysis KDA across the underlying data model to isolate specific factors driving the change, such as product categories or customer cohorts. The complete diagnostic summary is delivered directly into your team's workspace via Slack or email, eliminating the need for manual data hunting or analyst support tickets. Every notification includes a direct link back into Conversational Analytics in Looker. Clicking the link opens an interactive session pre-loaded with the agent's diagnostic findings, allowing you to ask follow-up questions and test hypotheses immediately. Balancing user flexibility with enterprise governance, Looker provides a centralized workflow management interface. Business users can view and edit their own active monitors, while Looker administrators retain full oversight to review, adjust, or disable workflows across the entire instance. Looker Agentic Workflows is available in preview for Looker version 26.08 and later. Administrators can activate the feature by opening the Gemini in Looker settings page and enabling the Agentic Workflows preview toggle. Once enabled, users with chat with agent and create alerts permissions can build workflows immediately. Review the Looker documentation https://docs.cloud.google.com/looker/docs/looker-core-admin-gemini enable-and-disable-gil-features-core to configure your first workflow.