In the bustling realm of modern technology, where data reigns supreme and artificial intelligence is the catalyst for profound change, SAS Institute Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have developed a partnership that has had a profound impact on the world of enterprise technology.

The companies’ collaborative spirit has helped highlight the transformative power of data and AI.

“I think working very closely with SAS, we found that there was so many synergies where Microsoft and SAS are both going on these transformative journeys together,” said Michael Glaros (pictured, left), principal program manager for Azure global commercial industry at Microsoft. “We’re really on this mission to understand the most critical industry use cases that can be unlocked and sort of pragmatically explored by industry AI, by data and by the transformative power of generative AI.”

Glaros and Gavin Day (right), executive vice president of the office of the chief executive officer at SAS, spoke with theCUBE industry analysts John Furrier and Dave Vellante at SAS Explore, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the evolving landscape of data, innovation and accelerated AI adoption in the enterprise. (* Disclosure below.)

Unpacking the SAS-Microsoft Partnership

The collaboration between SAS and Microsoft, which has spanned three years, is marked by a co-engineering relationship, co-sell agreements and a shared commitment to delivering transformative solutions to customers. Together, the companies aim to enable organizations to run and consume analytics, AI and data management in the cloud seamlessly, according to Day.

“Our customers want to run and consume analytics, AI and data management in the cloud, and we’ve done pioneering work in a lot of ways to bring that forward to them,” he added.

One key revelation is the alignment of SAS and Microsoft in pursuit of understanding critical industry use cases that AI, data and generative AI can unlock. The two companies have engineering teams working in tandem to identify and prioritize these use cases, paving the way for practical exploration and accelerated deployment.

This collaborative approach allows the two companies to showcase the art of the possible and provide customers with innovative solutions that blend the strengths of SAS and Microsoft’s AI offerings, said Day.

“On the customer side, we saw customers, especially in a couple of the more forward leaning industries, really rush in and we’re going to start using this right now,” he added. “I think that’s where they’re going to start to bolt this onto existing applications internally. I think we’re going to really start to see some big productivity gains in these companies in the beginning of the year.”

Data management and AI: Seeds of innovation

Data management plays a crucial role in the success of AI initiatives. To do so, clean, well-structured data is needed as the foundation for effective AI applications and can drive innovation in various sectors.

The world is in the midst of a data revolution, and the integration of AI into industries is at the forefront of this transformation. Understanding the data that is being used, its source, representation, structure and format is essential for making AI and generative AI more effective and impactful, according to Day.

“We see a number one pattern is this idea of bringing your own data or chatting with my own data. I have a variety of different data sources across the enterprise that I want to harness this power of this generative AI to summarize and to be able to do semantic searches and the like,” Glaros added.

AI is not just about analytics and data; it’s also about outpacing competitors and achieving business goals more swiftly. The ability to make informed decisions rapidly is a competitive advantage that organizations are eager to leverage.

“The customers that we’re talking to, all of them are trying to figure out how they can use their data to competitive advantage, both internally and then be monetizing it externally. It’s about how quickly can I outpace my competitors,” Day said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of SAS Explore:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the SAS Explore event. Neither SAS Institute Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE