What do you get once you combine leaders from each business, a hall-of-fame basketball coach and a best-selling creator collectively in three days? SAS Innovate in Orlando, after all.
As organizations navigate this altering financial panorama, many are turning to analytics and AI to assist them keep forward of the curve. SAS Innovate in Orlando introduced SAS executives and different business luminaries collectively to encourage attendees to make use of analytics to outpace tomorrow.
SAS CMO Jenn Chase hosted and set the tone throughout SAS Modern Opening Session, giving everybody a rundown of what to anticipate all through the occasion.
“Enterprise leaders everywhere in the world are telling us they want AI and analytics to be resilient, future-ready and quick – not simply to remain aggressive right this moment – however to outpace no matter tomorrow brings.”
MyPOV: @jennchase @SASSoftware CMO takes stage to welcome the delegates #SASInnovate pic.twitter.com/TIiatY4RpB
— R “Ray” Wang 王瑞光 #1A #AI #SASInnovate (@rwang0) Could 9, 2023
A standing ovation for SAS CEO Jim Goodnight
“Over the previous few years, we have been examined in surprising methods: from a pandemic to harassed provide chains and workforce shortages, to monetary instability within the banking business,” mentioned SAS CEO Jim Goodnight after being welcomed to the principle stage by Chase. ” And via this expertise, we’ve gained a brand new appreciation for resiliency. We’ve seen firsthand the significance of working with pace and agility. “
Due to these challenges, organizations want know-how that helps them take advantage of the info they’ve to enhance their enterprise and overcome disruptions. “SAS Viya brings analytics and AI to everybody, in all places, letting customers of all ability ranges get the solutions they want in any language on their phrases and sooner than ever earlier than,” mentioned Goodnight.
Goodnight welcomed SAS Chief Know-how Officer Bryan Harris to the stage for a dialogue about cloud applied sciences and a playful interplay about ChatGPT.

“At first look, the capabilities of ChatGPT are astonishing. Nevertheless it usually simply makes stuff up,” quipped Goodnight, eliciting nods and laughter from the Innovate crowd. ”Just a few weeks in the past I requested ChatGPT to write down bios on my two daughters. It informed me that one was a extremely awarded chef on the Umstead Resort. Actually, she’s in advertising. And the opposite daughter, in line with chatGPT, has a grasp’s diploma in arithmetic and leads R&D at SAS … which was information to me.”
Harris, who truly leads R&D at SAS, responded, “That’s additionally information to me, too. Does my SAS badge nonetheless work?”
In all seriousness, generative AI is inspiring new types of human-to-computer interplay to extend productiveness. Goodnight and Harris acknowledged that generative AI will play a task in the way forward for know-how. However ethics and duty must play a task within the growth of that know-how.
“We are going to do that in a accountable manner and in a manner that reinforces the belief we’ve constructed with our clients during the last 47 years,” Goodnight mentioned.
Earlier than Goodnight exited the stage, Harris took a minute to thank him for his contributions to the business, saying, “We’re so grateful for the business you’ve got created and proceed to form.” The gang at Innovate echoed Harris’ sentiment with a standing ovation for Goodnight as he exited the stage.
Efficiency, productiveness and belief
Harris remained on stage to debate the ideas of productiveness, efficiency and belief, and to debate the worth of utilizing SAS within the cloud. “We run wherever our clients want us: within the cloud of their selection, on-premises, or on the edge. We’ve the quickest, best AI and analytics platform available in the market.”
“About two years in the past, we checked out the place the business was headed,” mentioned Harris. Figuring out that productiveness enhancements in SAS software program would equate to price financial savings for purchasers, the R&D group began a price economics program to assist cut back prices within the cloud.
Because of this program, SAS machine studying algorithms now run 16 instances sooner than they did in 2020, and SAS Viya is 30 instances sooner than open-source alternate options. “Meaning we’re 30 instances cheaper within the cloud,” mentioned Harris.
Harris launched the SAS and Singlestore partnership, explaining SingleStore helps transactional and analytic workloads in the identical workflow to assist cut back cloud consumption prices whereas additionally enhancing time to worth.
“We’re working intently with all companions within the cloud to construct compelling integrations with SAS AI and their applied sciences. Our basic mission is that can assist you all scale human productiveness and resolution making.”
Extra on Productiveness
Alice McClure and Shadi Shahin expanded the productiveness theme, speaking about new SAS Viya capabilities. Roshan Shah, , Vice President of Collaboration and Assist Heart Operations at Georgia Pacific joined them to clarify how Georgia Pacific has seen a 9-figure worth from its use of analytics.
Selections based mostly on fashions are the proof level of analytics, says Shahin. To extend selections, SAS is targeted on eradicating friction, rising productiveness for information scientists, enterprise analysts and information engineers.
Productiveness is not only about deploying fashions. It is about crafting the best resolution via the usage of these fashions, says McClure.
Extra on efficiency
Subsequent, Udo Sglavo and Marinela Profi talked about optimizing price for efficiency and maximizing worth from analytics. The pair launched the outcomes of a brand new benchmarking examine from Futurum Group that reveals SAS Viya is, on common, 30 instances sooner than business and open-source alternate options and scales higher with bigger and sophisticated information.
“That is really superb, says Sglavo. “SAS Viya is, on common, 30x sooner, irrespective of the dimensions or complexity of the info. This lets you make selections sooner within the moments that matter.”
Why are scalability and pace essential? Your information scientists can create 30x extra fashions for a similar prices as earlier than. If prices are your precedence, you’ll be able to produce the identical outcomes and decrease working prices within the cloud by greater than 86%.
Anupam Trivedi, Senior Director, Credit score Management Companies at HSBC illustrated the significance of pace by describing the size and complexity of the work analytics helps him obtain within the banks lending operation.
HSBC processes 12 billion transactions yearly, together with 10 million mortgage purposes and manages not less than 300 distinct methods and fashions inside its lending setting.
The scale and scale of the @HSBC analytics setting is astounding. “SAS had the engineering capabilities to get to the size we required,” says Anunpam Trivedi, Sr Director of Management Companies. #sasinnovate pic.twitter.com/yl8RmOBToa
— Alison Bolen (@alisonbolen) Could 9, 2023
Extra on Belief
For the ultimate theme, Reggie Townsend, VP of the Information Ethics Observe at SAS, gave everybody one thing to consider when he mentioned, “The potential for bias is nicely documented. It’s unquestionable and inevitable that bias will present up in our information. The query is, what can we do to handle it? Would you wish to perpetuate the previous or would you love to do your half in making a extra equitable future?”
Within the means of designing, creating, and deploying SAS software program, Townsend’s group focuses on a variety of essential priorities, together with: inclusivity, accountability, transparency, security and privateness.
“We’ve probably the most complete reliable AI platform for information scientists, bar none,” defined Reggie Townsend, VP of the Information Ethics Observe at SAS.
Dr. Michel van Genderen from Erasmus Medical Heart joined Townsend on stage to debate the significance of belief when utilizing AI in a medical setting. “Everyone knows AI has potential,” mentioned van Genderen, “However we generally neglect that I, as an healthcare skilled, have to make use of and belief the AI mannequin when making a medical resolution. I need to be 100% certain that the mannequin does what it’s purported to be doing, is secure and do no hurt.
van Genderen mentioned he discovered a real associate in SAS for his efforts. “We each perceive that it’s not about creating fashions however that the true problem is about implementing AI on the bedside in a accountable method.”
Extra on SAS Viya
Mike Blanchard concluded the know-how discussions with a abstract of the SAS answer portfolio.
“Our growth philosophy is to incorporate ‘Perception by Design,'” mentioned Blanchard. “That is the ever present downside solver. Our Answer growth groups are tuning the analytics to match the issue – and naturally every portfolio will leverage totally different methods, pace of knowledge, proficiency of consumer, automated or augmented analytics.”
Blanchard welcomed Jay Riola, Govt Vice President of Technique and Innovation with Orlando Magic to additional clarify the facility of SAS options on SAS Viya. Riola summarized how the Magic started utilizing SAS shortly after they moved into a brand new enviornment that allowed them to gather extra buyer information at factors all through the venue.
“SAS opened our eyes to how analytics may assist not solely income however enhance fan engagement, product methods and extra,” mentioned Riola.