SAS Viya unveils new AI tools & services to boost productivity

SAS has announced a series of updates and new features on its SAS Viya platform, aimed at enhancing AI-driven productivity and supporting a wider range of users and organisations.

Platform updates

The SAS Viya platform now provides users with the ability to either build AI through a suite of end-to-end tools or purchase AI solutions and model packages, offering increased flexibility and productivity for decision-making across industries.

Kathy Lange, Research Director for AI Software at IDC, commented, "SAS is evolving its strategy and portfolio to embrace a broader ecosystem of user personas, preferences, and technologies within an enterprise's AI technology stack. SAS continues to develop offerings that streamline and automate the AI life cycle and enable organisations to make better business decisions faster."

Key releases

SAS Data Maker, first introduced through a private preview, is a synthetic data generator designed to help organisations address challenges related to data privacy and scarcity. The tool also aims to simplify data management processes and reduce resource usage. The development of SAS Data Maker was accelerated by SAS's recent acquisition of principal software assets from Hazy, a specialist in synthetic data. General availability for SAS Data Maker is expected in the third quarter of 2025.

SAS Viya Intelligent Decisioning, which is currently available, offers organisations the ability to create and deploy intelligent AI agents with a controlled mix of AI autonomy and human involvement. According to SAS, this is intended to ensure appropriate oversight for tasks with varied complexity and risk profiles.

Another new addition is SAS Managed Cloud Services: SAS Viya Essentials. This service packages selected SAS Viya products into an out-of-the-box managed cloud environment. Initially targeted at small and medium-sized businesses, SAS Managed Cloud Services: Viya Essentials is intended to reduce barriers to adopting AI solutions by providing an accessible hosted service.

The SAS Viya Copilot, an AI-powered conversational assistant, is built into the SAS Viya platform to support developers, data scientists, and business users with analytical, business, and industry tasks. Currently available by invitation through a private preview, the general release is scheduled for the third quarter of 2025. The Copilot offers AI-powered assistance with model development and coding for SAS users. It is built on Azure AI Services, reflecting the ongoing partnership between SAS and Microsoft.

SAS Viya Workbench, originally launched in 2024, is a cloud-based environment intended for developers, data scientists, and modellers. The workbench supports coding in SAS and Python via Visual Studio Code or Jupyter Notebook. Updates in 2025 include the addition of R language support, the integration of SAS Enterprise Guide as an optional development environment, and expanded availability to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace in addition to the existing AWS Marketplace.

AI in practice

SAS has reported that organisations using the Viya platform benefit from the ability to build and deploy AI models more efficiently. The platform's structure allows multiple job functions—including developers, data scientists, IT professionals, and business analysts—to collaborate throughout the data and AI life cycle. SAS suggests this collaboration streamlines the path to making informed business decisions and accelerates productivity across various sectors and regulatory contexts.

Referencing industry research, SAS cited a 2024 AI productivity study by Futurum Group: "SAS Viya helps users accelerate the AI life cycle, enabling them to collect data, build models, and deploy decisions 4.6 times faster than selected competitors – all while helping them increase innovation, expedite decision making and drive revenue growth."

"The current economic climate and rapid pace of AI innovation can feel intense and overwhelming," said Bryan Harris, Chief Technology Officer at SAS. "Our goal is to deliver cutting-edge AI capabilities that help organisations navigate the hype and disruption, make breakthroughs in problem solving, and gain a decision advantage."

Real world usage

SAS highlighted the use of its platform by Fathom Science, a start-up focused on marine data analytics. Fathom Science used SAS Data Maker to generate synthetic shipping lane data, expanding their dataset to 500,000 points, in order to validate a model designed to predict whale locations and reduce the risk of vessel strikes on critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. SAS Viya Workbench was used subsequently to develop machine learning models for calculating the probability of whales' proximity to shore, assisting with statistical and machine learning validation of the location prediction model.

SAS stated that through these enhancements, the Viya platform aims to support a diverse range of users in addressing real business and environmental challenges efficiently with AI-driven solutions.