SAS unveils a US$1 billion investment plan to advance industry-specific analytics solutions.
SAS, an analytics company, has unveiled a strategic plan to invest US$1 billion over the next three years towards the development of advanced analytics solutions. With a focus on meeting the specific needs of industries such as banking, government, insurance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and energy, SAS aims to enhance its offerings and strengthen its position in the market.
The investment will further bolster SAS’s existing suite of industry-tailored solutions, which will be powered by SAS Viya, its cloud-native, massively parallel AI and analytics platform. Speaking on the development, CEO of SAS Jim Goodnight, emphasized the importance of industry-focused analytics in helping businesses overcome challenges such as economic recessions, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and regulatory changes. By harnessing AI, machine learning and advanced analytics, SAS intends to support organizations in combating fraud, managing risks, improving customer service and achieving various other critical objectives.
Driving analytics innovation across industries
The billion-dollar investment will support the work of SAS data scientists, statisticians and software developers, who collaborate with consultants, systems engineers and marketers possessing industry-specific expertise. This investment aligns with the growing trend of democratizing data analytics, aiming to empower a wider range of individuals with diverse experience and job roles. By enabling more people to access advanced analytics tools and techniques, organizations and society as a whole stand to benefit. SAS refers to this approach as “analytics for everyone, everywhere”.
As organizations increasingly embrace technologies such as AI, machine learning, computer vision and IoT analytics to gain valuable insights, SAS facilitates the participation of individuals with varying skill levels by offering low- or no-code options in SAS Viya.
This enables a range of professionals, from business analysts seeking to detect and prevent fraud to city planners aiming to improve public health and safety, medical personnel focused on enhancing patient care and frontline workers seeking to optimize manufacturing assembly lines.
SAS expands industry solutions portfolio
SAS aims to refine its existing range of industry-specific solutions and develop new ones to meet evolving needs through its ongoing investment. Notable instances of SAS’s industry expertise include:
Managing market unpredictability and optimizing customer experience in financial services
SAS has acquired Kamakura Corp, a financial risk firm, to assist banking and insurance customers in navigating economic volatility. The acquisition is the largest in SAS’s history and has added renowned quantitative risk management experts to SAS’s team. The purchase has also advanced SAS’s suite of integrated risk solutions, with SAS Asset and Liability Management (ALM) already updated for SAS Viya, helping banks predict and mitigate liquidity and balance sheet risks.
SAS is also prioritizing innovation in enterprise decision-making by unifying siloed functions and using AI-powered architecture to yield faster and more accurate decisions, streamlining operational complexity and improving customers’ experience for financial firms.
Enhancing government revenue protection
Governments worldwide grapple with substantial financial losses resulting from tax evasion and avoidance, impeding their ability to deliver vital services to citizens. SAS Tax Compliance offers a solution by leveraging advanced analytics to analyze extensive tax data and automate the detection of noncompliance and fraud. Consequently, government tax agencies can identify tax fraud schemes early, streamline audits and efficiently resolve pending cases.
Navigating the volatile insurance market
With 2022 being labeled the worst year for property and casualty (P&C) insurance in over a decade, the industry faced significant challenges, including a staggering US$26.5 billion underwriting loss in the U.S. due to events like Hurricane Ian.
Hence, insurers must adapt to escalating climate risks by adjusting premiums to maintain financial stability, despite the already uncertain market. In such a scenario, accurate and unbiased premium pricing plays a vital role in ensuring solvency, competitiveness and consumer confidence.
SAS Dynamic Actuarial Modeling offers optimized data preparation and flexible modeling capabilities supported by machine learning. This solution empowers insurers to provide fair pricing in the fast-paced and challenging insurance landscape.
Advancing healthcare and therapeutic development
SAS provides industry-specific applications and AI solutions designed to improve patient outcomes, enhance operational efficiency and optimize financial management. These solutions enable healthcare organizations to deliver high-quality care in a cost-effective and safer manner, allowing clinicians and business analysts to gain valuable insights from patient population data and facilitating advancements in value-based care and payment models.
In addition, SAS supports clinical research by facilitating the development of new therapies and treatments. For instance, SAS Clinical Enrollment Simulation utilizes analytics to inform enrollment planning, aiding in the avoidance of delays caused by missed enrollment targets. Given that approximately 90% of clinical trials fail to meet enrollment timelines, this solution contributes to more efficient and successful clinical trials.
Forecasting retail and consumer goods demand
SAS offers predictive and demand planning capabilities to retailers and consumer goods manufacturers through its AI-powered SAS Intelligent Planning Cloud. The platform helps companies forecast and fulfill shopper needs accurately and mitigate shipping disruptions. The SAS Viya analytics and machine learning power the solution, fully automating the process. It is available as a software-as-a-service solution on the SAS Cloud, enabling retailers and consumer goods companies to transform data into actionable insights.
Enhancing electric grid reliability
A significant portion of power outages experienced by utility companies are attributable to equipment failures. This could incur substantial repair costs, introduce risks for repair personnel and cause disruptions for customers, including households, educational institutions and manufacturing facilities.
SAS Grid Guardian AI utilizes data derived from IoT sensors installed on service vehicles, such as garbage trucks, to address this issue. These sensors, provided by SAS partner Exacter, capture radiofrequency emissions data from transmission lines, which will then be analyzed by SAS AI, machine learning and streaming analytics.
The outcome of this analysis enables utility companies to gain deeper insights into potential equipment failures and predict them before they happen. As a result, companies can optimize their maintenance schedules, reducing service interruptions and minimizing injuries to crew members. Ultimately, these efforts contribute to the improvement of electric grid reliability.
Promoting responsible marketing solutions
SAS Marketers are under increasing pressure to be accountable and transparent in their utilization of customer data technologies while effectively managing their brand image. Responsible marketing entails meeting evolving customer privacy expectations, adopting emerging technologies like generative AI and promptly evaluating the value of marketing programs.
To address these requirements, SAS Customer Intelligence 360 offers brands a solution to utilize customer data, marketing technology and resources responsibly. By leveraging robust analytics, brands can build loyalty and trust, maintain legal and ethical compliance, optimize marketing assets and enhance business profitability.
Enhanced industry solutions through partnership
SAS collaborates with a wide range of partners to develop and deliver industry-specific solutions. Microsoft is one of SAS’s key partners, and together they are working to bring Azure confidential computing technology to customers. This technology aims to enhance data privacy and security, particularly for organizations in regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare and government.
The upcoming integration of these new capabilities into SAS Viya on Microsoft Azure will provide customers with a more secure AI and cloud computing platform. The initial release of these features will be available in select regions, including the U.S., the Netherlands and Ireland, with a broader rollout planned for the future.
With a strong focus on industry needs, SAS aims to empower organizations across sectors to make informed decisions, gain competitive advantages and thrive in an ever-evolving business landscape.
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Press release link: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sas-commits-1b-to-ai-powered-industry-solutions-301819760.html
