SAS INNOVATE — The future of artificial intelligence is rapidly shifting toward intelligent systems that can make autonomous decisions and act with minimal human input. In response to this evolution, SAS is leading the charge with a responsible and transparent approach to AI agent deployment. The company today announced a major advancement with SAS® Intelligent Decisioning, available on its industry-leading SAS® Viya® platform—empowering enterprises to design, scale, and govern AI agents with a built-in balance of automation, ethics, and oversight.
“SAS’ approach to agentic AI strikes the critical balance between autonomous decision-making and ethical governance,” said Nick Patience, Vice President and Practice Lead, Artificial Intelligence Software and Tools at The Futurum Group. “Its intelligent agents represent not just technological advancement but a pragmatic framework for responsible enterprise AI adoption – precisely what organizations need as they navigate this rapidly evolving landscape to gain a competitive advantage.”
Empowering Transparent, Ethical AI Decisioning at Scale
SAS is redefining enterprise AI with an agentic framework designed to work collaboratively with humans, rather than replace them. This forward-looking model is built on three foundational pillars:
- Decisioning: By integrating powerful deterministic analytics with the flexibility of large language models (LLMs), SAS Viya allows organizations to build AI agents that deliver accurate, explainable, and reliable outcomes—even in highly regulated industries. This hybrid approach ensures both precision and adaptability.
- Human-AI Collaboration: SAS empowers enterprises to define the right level of AI autonomy based on task complexity, operational risk, and business objectives. AI agents can execute routine, data-driven tasks autonomously, while human experts maintain oversight and provide strategic or ethical guidance when needed.
- Built-In Governance: SAS embeds comprehensive governance tools into every stage of AI agent development. This includes support for data privacy, ethical compliance, regulatory alignment, and auditability—helping businesses scale AI while maintaining control and trust.
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“As organizations evolve toward open, interoperable AI ecosystems across multi-cloud and hybrid environments, trust and explainability in AI governance are emerging as key differentiators among tech vendors,” said Tiffany McCormick, Research Director, Digital Business Models and Monetization at IDC. “SAS is taking industry-leading steps to address the growing demand for agentic AI, with a clear commitment to ethical rigor and differentiated execution in AI decisioning.”
Future-Proofing AI with SAS Viya
The SAS Viya platform offers end-to-end support for organizations at every stage of their agentic AI journey—from data ingestion and advanced analytics to deployment and lifecycle monitoring. With continuous performance tracking, embedded security, and compliance features, SAS provides a comprehensive infrastructure for trustworthy AI.
Looking ahead, SAS is investing in next-generation innovations, including co-pilot productivity assistants designed to help users work faster and more efficiently within SAS Viya, while staying aligned with enterprise rules and logic. In addition, the company will release domain-specific intelligent agents tailored for key industries—such as supply chain optimization and data engineering—designed to accelerate time-to-value without compromising governance or business integrity.
“SAS Viya builds agents that don’t just act – they decide with purpose, guided by analytics, business rules and adaptability and grounded by decades of SAS’ trusted governance,” said Marinela Profi, Global AI Market Strategy Lead at SAS. “SAS’ unified, governed, decision-first framework turns AI agents from a science experiment to a business differentiator.”
As enterprises look to scale AI responsibly, SAS’ transparent and adaptive approach to AI agent development is setting a new standard for trust, performance, and enterprise value in the age of automation.
