diff --git a/cluster/gce/delete-stranded-load-balancers.sh b/cluster/gce/delete-stranded-load-balancers.sh
index 9b59c213389..63e94273721 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/delete-stranded-load-balancers.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/delete-stranded-load-balancers.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 PROJECT=${PROJECT:-kubernetes-jenkins}
 REGION=${REGION:-us-central1}
 
-LIST=$(gcloud --project=${PROJECT} compute target-pools list | sed 1d | awk '{print $1}')
+LIST=$(gcloud --project=${PROJECT} compute target-pools list --format='value(name)')
 
 result=0
 for x in ${LIST}; do
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index 8bbf8c38607..81efb671824 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ elif [[ "${OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" ]]; then
   # If the user does not set a GCI image for master, we run both master and nodes
   # using the latest GCI dev image.
   if [[ "${MASTER_IMAGE}" != gci* ]]; then
-    gci_images=( $(gcloud compute images list --project google-containers | grep "gci-dev" | cut -d ' ' -f1) )
+    gci_images=( $(gcloud compute images list --project google-containers \
+      --regexp='gci-dev.*' --format='value(name)') )
     MASTER_IMAGE="${gci_images[0]}"
     NODE_IMAGE="${MASTER_IMAGE}"
     NODE_IMAGE_PROJECT="${MASTER_IMAGE_PROJECT}"
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ function ensure-temp-dir {
 #   PROJECT_REPORTED
 function detect-project () {
   if [[ -z "${PROJECT-}" ]]; then
-    PROJECT=$(gcloud config list project | tail -n 1 | cut -f 3 -d ' ')
+    PROJECT=$(gcloud config list project --format 'value(core.project)')
   fi
 
   if [[ -z "${PROJECT-}" ]]; then
@@ -663,8 +664,7 @@ function create-master() {
   local REGION=${ZONE%-*}
   create-static-ip "${MASTER_NAME}-ip" "${REGION}"
   MASTER_RESERVED_IP=$(gcloud compute addresses describe "${MASTER_NAME}-ip" \
-    --project "${PROJECT}" \
-    --region "${REGION}" -q --format yaml | awk '/^address:/ { print $2 }')
+    --project "${PROJECT}" --region "${REGION}" -q --format='value(address)')
 
   create-certs "${MASTER_RESERVED_IP}"
 
@@ -881,9 +881,9 @@ function kube-down {
 
   # Delete autoscaler for nodes if present. We assume that all or none instance groups have an autoscaler
   local autoscaler
-  autoscaler=( $(gcloud compute instance-groups managed list --zone "${ZONE}" --project "${PROJECT}" \
-                 | grep "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-group" \
-                 | awk '{print $7}') )
+  autoscaler=( $(gcloud compute instance-groups managed list \
+    --zone "${ZONE}" --project "${PROJECT}" --regexp="${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-.+" \
+    --format='value(autoscaled)') )
   if [[ "${autoscaler:-}" == "yes" ]]; then
     for group in ${INSTANCE_GROUPS[@]:-}; do
       gcloud compute instance-groups managed stop-autoscaling "${group}" --zone "${ZONE}" --project "${PROJECT}"
@@ -895,28 +895,13 @@ function kube-down {
   # change during a cluster upgrade.)
   local template=$(get-template "${PROJECT}")
 
-  # The gcloud APIs don't return machine parseable error codes/retry information. Therefore the best we can
-  # do is parse the output and special case particular responses we are interested in.
   for group in ${INSTANCE_GROUPS[@]:-}; do
     if gcloud compute instance-groups managed describe "${group}" --project "${PROJECT}" --zone "${ZONE}" &>/dev/null; then
-      deleteCmdOutput=$(gcloud compute instance-groups managed delete --zone "${ZONE}" \
+      gcloud compute instance-groups managed delete \
         --project "${PROJECT}" \
         --quiet \
-        "${group}")
-      if [[ "$deleteCmdOutput" != ""  ]]; then
-        # Managed instance group deletion is done asynchronously, we must wait for it to complete, or subsequent steps fail
-        deleteCmdOperationId=$(echo $deleteCmdOutput | grep "Operation:" | sed "s/.*Operation:[[:space:]]*\([^[:space:]]*\).*/\1/g")
-        if [[ "$deleteCmdOperationId" != ""  ]]; then
-          deleteCmdStatus="PENDING"
-          while [[ "$deleteCmdStatus" != "DONE" ]]
-          do
-            sleep 5
-            deleteCmdOperationOutput=$(gcloud compute instance-groups managed --zone "${ZONE}" --project "${PROJECT}" get-operation $deleteCmdOperationId)
-            deleteCmdStatus=$(echo $deleteCmdOperationOutput | grep -i "status:" | sed "s/.*status:[[:space:]]*\([^[:space:]]*\).*/\1/g")
-            echo "Waiting for MIG deletion to complete. Current status: " $deleteCmdStatus
-          done
-        fi
-      fi
+        --zone "${ZONE}" \
+        "${group}"
     fi
   done
 
@@ -962,7 +947,7 @@ function kube-down {
   minions=( $(gcloud compute instances list \
                 --project "${PROJECT}" --zone "${ZONE}" \
                 --regexp "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-.+" \
-                | awk 'NR >= 2 { print $1 }') )
+                --format='value(name)') )
   # If any minions are running, delete them in batches.
   while (( "${#minions[@]}" > 0 )); do
     echo Deleting nodes "${minions[*]::10}"
@@ -1000,7 +985,8 @@ function kube-down {
   # first allows the master to cleanup routes itself.
   local TRUNCATED_PREFIX="${INSTANCE_PREFIX:0:26}"
   routes=( $(gcloud compute routes list --project "${PROJECT}" \
-    --regexp "${TRUNCATED_PREFIX}-.{8}-.{4}-.{4}-.{4}-.{12}" | awk 'NR >= 2 { print $1 }') )
+    --regexp "${TRUNCATED_PREFIX}-.{8}-.{4}-.{4}-.{4}-.{12}"  \
+    --format='value(name)') )
   while (( "${#routes[@]}" > 0 )); do
     echo Deleting routes "${routes[*]::10}"
     gcloud compute routes delete \
@@ -1031,16 +1017,11 @@ function kube-down {
 #   NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX
 #
 # $1: project
-# $2: zone
 function get-template {
-  local template=""
-  if [[ -n $(gcloud compute instance-templates list "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}"-template --project="${1}" | grep template) ]]; then
-    template="${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}"-template
-  fi
-  echo "${template}"
+  gcloud compute instance-templates list "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-template" \
+    --project="${1}" --format='value(name)'
 }
 
-
 # Checks if there are any present resources related kubernetes cluster.
 #
 # Assumed vars:
@@ -1086,7 +1067,7 @@ function check-resources {
   minions=( $(gcloud compute instances list \
                 --project "${PROJECT}" --zone "${ZONE}" \
                 --regexp "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-.+" \
-                | awk 'NR >= 2 { print $1 }') )
+                --format='value(name)') )
   if (( "${#minions[@]}" > 0 )); then
     KUBE_RESOURCE_FOUND="${#minions[@]} matching matching ${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-.+"
     return 1
@@ -1104,7 +1085,7 @@ function check-resources {
 
   local -a routes
   routes=( $(gcloud compute routes list --project "${PROJECT}" \
-    --regexp "${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-.{4}" | awk 'NR >= 2 { print $1 }') )
+    --regexp "${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-.{4}" --format='value(name)') )
   if (( "${#routes[@]}" > 0 )); then
     KUBE_RESOURCE_FOUND="${#routes[@]} routes matching ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-.{4}"
     return 1
diff --git a/cluster/gke/util.sh b/cluster/gke/util.sh
index 97d17e15b81..ecc99843e0d 100755
--- a/cluster/gke/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gke/util.sh
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ function prepare-e2e() {
 function detect-project() {
   echo "... in gke:detect-project()" >&2
   if [[ -z "${PROJECT:-}" ]]; then
-    export PROJECT=$("${GCLOUD}" config list project | tail -n 1 | cut -f 3 -d ' ')
+    export PROJECT=$("${GCLOUD}" config list project --format 'value(core.project)')
     echo "... Using project: ${PROJECT}" >&2
   fi
   if [[ -z "${PROJECT:-}" ]]; then
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ function test-setup() {
   detect-nodes >&2
 
   # At this point, CLUSTER_NAME should have been used, so its value is final.
-  NODE_TAG=$($GCLOUD compute instances describe ${NODE_NAMES[0]} --project="${PROJECT}" --zone="${ZONE}" | grep -o "gke-${CLUSTER_NAME}-.\{8\}-node" | head -1)
+  NODE_TAG=$($GCLOUD compute instances describe ${NODE_NAMES[0]} --project="${PROJECT}" --zone="${ZONE}" --format='value(tags.items)' | grep -o "gke-${CLUSTER_NAME}-.\{8\}-node")
   OLD_NODE_TAG="k8s-${CLUSTER_NAME}-node"
 
   # Open up port 80 & 8080 so common containers on minions can be reached.
@@ -221,8 +221,8 @@ function detect-master() {
   echo "... in gke:detect-master()" >&2
   detect-project >&2
   KUBE_MASTER_IP=$("${GCLOUD}" ${CMD_GROUP:-} container clusters describe \
-    --project="${PROJECT}" --zone="${ZONE}" "${CLUSTER_NAME}" \
-    | grep endpoint | cut -f 2 -d ' ')
+    --project="${PROJECT}" --zone="${ZONE}" --format='value(endpoint)' \
+    "${CLUSTER_NAME}")
 }
 
 # Assumed vars:
@@ -268,9 +268,10 @@ function detect-node-names {
 #   NODE_INSTANCE_GROUP
 function detect-node-instance-group {
   echo "... in gke:detect-node-instance-group()" >&2
-  NODE_INSTANCE_GROUP=$("${GCLOUD}" ${CMD_GROUP:-} container clusters describe \
-    --project="${PROJECT}" --zone="${ZONE}" "${CLUSTER_NAME}" \
-    | grep instanceGroupManagers | grep "${ZONE}" | cut -d '/' -f 11)
+  local url=$("${GCLOUD}" ${CMD_GROUP:-} container clusters describe \
+    --project="${PROJECT}" --zone="${ZONE}" \
+    --format='value(instanceGroupUrls)' "${CLUSTER_NAME}")
+  NODE_INSTANCE_GROUP="${url##*/}"
 }
 
 # SSH to a node by name ($1) and run a command ($2).
diff --git a/hack/jenkins/e2e-runner.sh b/hack/jenkins/e2e-runner.sh
index 04f3a068cb5..c5dd2022970 100755
--- a/hack/jenkins/e2e-runner.sh
+++ b/hack/jenkins/e2e-runner.sh
@@ -34,10 +34,7 @@ function fetch_output_tars() {
 }
 
 function fetch_server_version_tars() {
-    local -r msg=$(gcloud ${CMD_GROUP:-} container get-server-config --project=${PROJECT} --zone=${ZONE} | grep defaultClusterVersion)
-    # msg will look like "defaultClusterVersion: 1.0.1". Strip
-    # everything up to, including ": "
-    local -r build_version="v${msg##*: }"
+    local -r build_version="v$(gcloud ${CMD_GROUP:-} container get-server-config --project=${PROJECT} --zone=${ZONE}  --format='value(defaultClusterVersion)')"
     fetch_tars_from_gcs "release" "${build_version}"
     unpack_binaries
 }