The future of Analytics: AI and Machine-learning Take Centre-stage at SAS Analytics Summit

Event aimed to enable regional organizations transform into an intelligent enterprise

SAS, the leader in business analytics, hosted the SAS Analytics Summit at the Four Seasons Hotel, Kingdom Tower, Al Olay in Riyadh. In an age when analytics is the cornerstone of smarter decision-making, this one-day event aimed at helping regional organizations capitalize on data to gain greater business insights and develop advanced capabilities to innovate.

“Data is underpinning the next frontier of innovation. In this modern era of hyper connectivity, and transformed customer experience, it is imperative that organizations leverage data to identify their business drivers and ensure optimum productivity growth,” said Alaa Youssef, Managing Director, Middle East at SAS. “Data is becoming the basis of cutthroat competition, and we at SAS are committed to enable organizations across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to transform data into intelligence and enable greater levels of innovation to achieve their broader objective and support in realizing the national vision 2030.”

Themed ‘Bring the Analytics Economy and AI in Action’ SAS experts at the event, discussed various ways organizations can foster innovation through analytics, improve customer service by leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine-learning, and more endorsed by speakers from SAS customers such as STC, Arab National Bank, and Saudia Airlines.

According to the Worldwide Semiannual Big Data and Analytics Spending Guide from IDC, the Big Data & Analytics spending in Middle East & Africa is expected to reach $3.20 billion in 2020. As data explosion expands the scope of productivity and innovation across industries, capturing real-time business insights is critical to drive competitive differentiation and create new revenue channels and it has become imperative that organizations leverage real-time business insights, so as to transform into businesses of the future – in line with the regional digital agenda.

Since data is the constant element in this digital economy and business intelligence serves as the foundation to gain competitive advantage, SAS addresses the challenge of drawing real value from data.  Through this event, SAS extends advanced capabilities to analyze large volumes of data and enable organizations to uncover trends, build and execute digital strategies, and enhance the overall customer experience.