SAS sees 105% growth in AI revenue, per analyst report

SAS ranks second in revenue in 2018 for artificial intelligence (AI) software platforms

While the overall artificial intelligence (AI) market saw steady growth last year, SAS experienced growth at a rate nearly four times faster than the overall market, at 104.6% according to the IDC report, Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Software Platforms Market Shares, 2018: Steady Growth — Moving Toward Production¹. SAS ranked second overall in 2018 in the AI software platforms category.

“SAS had impressive growth in the artificial intelligence market, no doubt as a result of its leadership in analytics,” said David Schubmehl, Research Director, Cognitive/Artificial Intelligence Systems at IDC. “As organizations move from experimentation to production in AI to solve their business problems, many are looking for a trusted vendor that offers analytics expertise and domain knowledge. SAS’ embedded AI capabilities and integration with open source technologies allows organizations to take advantage of the technology to automate processes, without the heavy lifting of training AI models.”

To continue fostering innovation and progress in an expanding market, SAS has committed to invest $1 billion in AI over the next three years. The $1 billion investment focuses on three main areas:

1. research and development (R&D) innovation to continue to build on the success of SAS’ global AI efforts
2. education initiatives addressing customer and partner needs to better understand and benefit from AI
3. expert services to optimize customer return on AI projects.

Devoting 26% of its overall revenue to R&D, SAS reinvests more than twice the average for major technology firms.

“AI has been an integral part of SAS software for years,” said Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS. “Today we continue to move beyond the hype to make AI real for our customers, building on our strong foundation in advanced analytics. From machine learning, deep learning, computer vision and natural language processing to forecasting and optimization, SAS helps customers in many industries benefit from AI technologies and the intelligence they create.”

Customers using AI from SAS include Lockheed Martin, Royal Bank of Scotland and Honda. Learn more about how SAS delivers AI, empowering organizations to make more intelligent and automated business decisions. One of the key technologies for doing this is SAS® Viya®, transparent, interpretable technology that helps users at all skill levels automate complex tasks to build world-class analytical models.

¹ IDC #US45262419, Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Software Platforms Market Shares, 2018: Steady Growth — Moving Toward Production, David Schubmehl, June 2019