diff --git a/.github/auth/vm_auth.py b/.github/auth/vm_auth.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..60d30197
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/auth/vm_auth.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import sys
+import paramiko
+from google.auth import compute_engine
+from googleapiclient import discovery
+from google.oauth2.service_account import Credentials
+
+def authenticate_vm(creds):
+    credentials = Credentials.from_service_account_info(creds)
+    return discovery.build('compute', 'v1', credentials=credentials)
+def start_runner(document, pkey, id = "gpu-insatnce", zone='us-central1-a', instance='demos-tests'):
+    compute = authenticate_vm(document)
+    compute.instances().start(project=id, zone=zone, instance=instance).execute()
+    request = compute.instances().get(project=id, zone=zone, instance=instance)
+    response = request.execute()
+
+    # Extract the external IP address of the instance
+    external_ip = response['networkInterfaces'][0]['accessConfigs'][0]['natIP']
+
+    # Establish an SSH connection to the instance
+    ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
+    ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
+    ssh.connect(external_ip, pkey = key)
+
+    # Execute the command on the instance
+    stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command('cd actions-runner; nohup ./run.sh')
+
+    # Read the output of the command
+    output = stdout.read().decode()
+
+    # Close the SSH connection
+    ssh.close()
+
+    return output
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    creds, key = sys.argv[0], sys.argv[1]
+    # Start the instance
+    start_runner(creds, key)
+
+
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gcp-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/gcp-test.yaml
index 59821ee2..9855da9f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gcp-test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gcp-test.yaml
@@ -12,22 +12,21 @@ jobs:
   activate-vm:
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
-       - id: 'auth'
-         uses: 'google-github-actions/auth@v0.4.0'
+       - name: Checkout Demos🛎
+         uses: actions/checkout@v2
          with:
-           credentials_json: '${{ secrets.GCP_AUTH }}'
+             path: demos
+             persist-credentials: false
+             submodules: "recursive"
+             fetch-depth: 1
 
-       - name: 'Set up Cloud SDK'
-         uses: 'google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v1'
-         with:
-           version: '>= 363.0.0'
-
-       - name: 'Start VM instance'
-         run: 'gcloud compute instances start demos-tests --zone us-central1-a'
+       - name: Install clients
+         runs:
+           pip install google-api-python-client paramiko
 
-       - name: 'SSH into the instance'
-         run: |
-           gcloud compute ssh demos-tests --quiet --zone us-central1-a --ssh-key-file ${{ secrets.SSH_KEY }} --command "cd actions-runner; ./run.sh"
+       - name: Start GPU VM
+         runs: |
+           python3 .github/auth/vm_auth.py ${{ secrets.GCP_AUTH }} ${{ secrets.SSH_KEY }}
 
   run-test:
     needs: activate-vm