I feel as if this is the kind of thing Google might still be able to get right; "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" is still the company's mission, after all, although it's been diluted by ten years in the wilderness of developing products in what seems like all directions.
If Google had not strayed Keep would be this. Assistant would be this. Honestly Assistant and Keep would be one and the same thing, perhaps: a single Assistant that is about remembering what you need to remember, finding what you need to find, helping you do what you need to do. This parallel universe Assistant has an open API that nerds like you and me can really use to set up complex workflows. We then are able to share our workflows with each other, and eventually perhaps even build products (apps) on this platform for the less technical users. Split the revenue in an Assistant Store. It could smoothly diversify into Mechanical Turk territory, but with more and better automation.
While Google is asleep, startups can revolt.
Disclaimer: I work for Google but the opinions expressed here are personal and not those of my employer.