SAS is introducing its new “AI packages” during Innovate: lightweight, tailored models for rapid implementation.

Generative AI also dominates the debates during SAS Innovate. Organizer SAS wants to make AI practical for a large audience. In addition to a series of genAI-related announcements for the Viya platform, SAS is also launching a new offering. SAS also now offers industry-specific, lighter weight AI models that companies can purchase as a package.

“Companies are using AI in different ways,” said Bryan Harris, CTO of SAS, during his keynote. “There are AI developers, but also users who just want to consume AI. At SAS, we want to support every type of user.” With Models, SAS primarily wants to target companies that don’t have the technical resources and expertise to build AI themselves.

AI out of the box

When it comes to generative AI, there is too much talk about the big LLMs from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and Co., says Marinela Profi. Head of global AI strategy at SAS. “In reality, LLMs represent only a small portion of the modeling needs of real-world production implementations of AI and business decisions. LLMs alone will not solve your business problems.”

SAS’s “pre-built” models focus on concrete real-world situations that can span various sectors, from fraud detection to supply chain optimization to document processing. SAS believes there are other benefits to this industry-specific approach. The models are designed to be deployed quickly to deliver immediate results. The first models will be available later this year and will be purchased on a per license basis.

If you prefer to tinker with AI yourself, you can use it Workbench in Viya. In this DIY workshop, companies can build their own AI applications: SAS provides the necessary tools. After being announced in September 2023, Viya Workbench is now generally available.