New connected experience designed to help small business owners build and scale their businesses with access to financial, operational and business management AI tools and expertise
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Huntington National Bank ("Huntington") today announced The 1866 Studio, a new AI-powered operating system built with Gemini platform, Google Cloud's AI platform. Named for the year Huntington was founded, The 1866 Studio honors the bank's legacy of empowering businesses by bringing together business guidance, financial intelligence, digital tools and human expertise into a single, connected experience for aspiring and existing small business owners.
The 1866 Studio is designed to simplify the complex and time-consuming demands of starting and running a business. The operating system will provide agentic AI workflows across the financial, operational and management needs of business owners that streamline complex work and help them move from information to intelligence to action. By retaining relevant business context across tasks, The 1866 Studio enables business owners to orchestrate decisions across disparate tools while maintaining control as their needs evolve.
"Small businesses are essential to strong communities and a strong economy, and helping businesses thrive has been central to Huntington's purpose for more than 160 years," said Brant Standridge, president of Huntington Bank. "We are continually looking for new ways to help business owners navigate challenges, seize opportunities and spend more time focused on the financial success and growth of their businesses. The 1866 Studio is the next evolution of that commitment, bringing together Huntington's expertise and Gemini platform to help owners make more informed decisions and spend more time building the businesses they imagined."
The 1866 Studio will leverage Huntington's extensive small business and financial expertise and an AI-powered experience built using Google Cloud's comprehensive platform to build, scale, govern and optimize agents. Combined with Google's multimodal Gemini models, Gemini platform is enabling Huntington to offer business owners an intelligent, connected operating system that helps them navigate decisions with greater confidence and efficiency.
"Small business owners shouldn't have to become experts in every function or in AI to build a successful business," said Vijay Konduru, head of innovation and AI products at Huntington. "The 1866 Studio is an AI-powered platform designed around the small business jobs to be done. As the product evolves, it's intended to increasingly support the full range of those jobs across the business lifecycle, from turning an idea into a business to running and growing it, and ultimately preparing for succession, sale or exit."
"The future of small business banking is about delivering expertise and guidance in the moments customers need it most," said Rohit Bhat, general manager and managing director, Financial Services, Google Cloud. "By using Gemini platform and Gemini frontier models to build The 1866 Studio, Huntington is creating an innovative experience that helps small business owners move from information to action."
Initial AI capabilities of The 1866 Studio, including agentic workflows, equip entrepreneurs to turn business ideas into actionable plans, navigate startup requirements, strengthen their brand, identify funding sources, enable funding readiness and plan for growth. For example:
Business launch support: With built-in AI agents, owners can navigate the steps required to start a business, from entity selection and registration to licensing and operational setup, while generating a customized action plan to help move from idea to launch.
Marketing & campaign creation: Leveraging multimodal Gemini models, owners can instantly generate tailored marketing collateral, digital ad copy and social media campaigns.
Loan readiness assistance: AI-powered agents help owners evaluate financing readiness by identifying potential gaps, explaining lender expectations and recommending actions that can strengthen eligibility for future financing opportunities.
"Agentic AI workflows that help carry out tasks are one part of this end-to-end operating system," Konduru added. "Alongside them are relevant, personalized expert content and an AI assistant that helps owners both monitor their business operations and finances and manage and orchestrate daily work. Together, these capabilities help owners move from advice to action with support that evolves with the business, while they remain in control."
The 1866 Studio builds on Huntington's multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud to modernize technology, advance governed AI capabilities and accelerate innovation. Through the partnership, Huntington continues to explore new ways to use technology built with Google Cloud to enhance experiences for customers, colleagues and the communities and businesses it serves.
Interested small business owners and entrepreneurs, not limited to Huntington customers, can sign up for early access to The 1866 Studio beginning Oct. 19.
About Huntington Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $284 billion asset regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. A top 10 U.S. commercial bank, The Huntington National Bank and its affiliates provide consumers, small and middle-market businesses, corporations, municipalities, and other organizations with a comprehensive suite of banking, payments, wealth management, and risk management products and services. Founded in 1866, Huntington operates over 1,400 branches in 21 states, with certain businesses operating nationally. Visit Huntington.com for more information.
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