SAS and Microsoft Collaborate on AI-Driven Decision-Making Tools

SAS and Microsoft expand their AI partnership, launching decision-making tools and previewing quantum AI’s potential at SAS Innovate 2025.

At the SAS Innovate conference I am attending in Orlando, Florida this week, there was a joint appearance by SAS CEO and cofounder Jim Goodnight and Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella, who discussed the future of artificial intelligence and its role in enterprise decision-making. The two tech leaders emphasized the need for responsible, AI-driven decisions that affect businesses, consumers, and society at large.

Goodnight said large language models (LLMs) that power generative AI (GenAI) are insufficient for advanced enterprise business analytics.

“GenAI does not replace everything in analytics, data science, and business intelligence,” he said. “In the enterprise, complex workflows need to be set up on the right decision-making framework.”

Nadella concurred.

“GenAI can be used to create a ...