In this interview, he talks about some of the major trends in data and AI space, and the strategic role of the firm’s Pune R&D facility in the overall scheme of things.
Generative AI (GenAI) represents a new age of human productivity and scientific discovery, says Bryan Harris, executive vice-president & chief technology officer (CTO), SAS. In this interview, he talks to Sudhir Chowdhary about some of the major trends in data and AI space, and the strategic role of the firm’s Pune R&D facility in the overall scheme of things.
The data analytics space has become extremely competitive. What makes you stand out?
For decades, we’ve been tackling complex problems in highly regulated environments such as finance, pharmaceuticals, and government sectors. This understanding of regulatory compliance is a significant strength that sets us apart. Additionally, our commitment to reducing cloud spend for customers by optimising our deployments is a key differentiator, ensuring cost-efficiency without compromising on performance. We’re cloud-native, meaning our software runs seamlessly across all major cloud platforms. All our solutions are now on Viya 4 (AI, analytic and data management platform), making our software efficient across different environments. This allows us to extend our models, providing more flexibility for customers who can now deploy them in any computing environment, whether it’s AWS, Azure, or elsewhere. This not only broadens our market reach but also leverages our experience in building reliable models.
What new facets are favouring SAS’ business growth?
We’ve invested heavily, over a billion dollars, in AI and our solutions. This investment extends to models as well. Our long-standing credibility in building models is a significant advantage. Our focus on minimising cloud spend for customers is a significant differentiator. For instance offerings like SAS Viya Workbench – an on-demand analytics environment can execute tasks much faster and more cost-effectively compared to alternatives. This directly benefits our customers’ bottom line. Solutions are a key growth driver.
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We offer fully integrated, out-of-the-box solutions and anticipate that solutions will constitute a significant portion of our revenue, about 50-60% of our revenue over the course of the next 3-5 years.
How is your approach towards GenAI different from that of other players?
We aim to integrate GenAI features into our existing solutions, enhancing their capabilities without overwhelming our customers with the hype. Our vision is to use GenAI to streamline operations and create more value for our customers, ensuring a balanced approach to AI adoption.
We’re developing models that can overlay existing solutions, enhancing them and opening up new markets. For instance, if a customer uses AWS or Azure but not SAS, they can still leverage our models.
What are the opportunities that SAS sees in the Indian market?
India is a strategic priority for us with our Pune R&D centre contributing significantly to our solutions. We’re committed to investing in career growth and regional support, ensuring that our presence here is about more than just cost savings — it’s about building a robust, global team.
For us at SAS, our Pune R&D organisation serves as an unofficial headquarter 2, underscoring the importance of the India market. With nearly 1,000 employees in the country, we’re committed to continued investment and growth. We are dedicated to investing more in India and creating a career path for our employees rather than simply solving problems at a lower cost.
What are your priorities?
We are actively researching quantum computing, collaborating with vendors like D-Wave and IIQ to integrate quantum computing capabilities into its AI lifecycle. Current efforts are focused on identifying problems suitable for quantum computing and ensuring seamless integration with existing SAS software. We also envision that Gen AI will play a transformative role in data processing and AI applications.
Lastly, what do you think about the issue of AI and jobs?
Career mobility is essential in today’s rapidly evolving job market. The true purpose of technology should be to create a better future for society, not to introduce volatile disruptions that leave people insecure about their livelihoods. Many people are hesitant to invest in significant life milestones, like buying a house, due to fears of job instability caused by technological advancements.
We have a responsibility to be vocal advocates for community-focused technology. Our success shouldn’t be measured solely by our technological innovations, but by how we help the communities we operate in grow alongside us.
