Product of the Day
SAS tames AI chaos
AI Navigator, a software-as-a-service, helps organisations manage AI systems and check compliance with policies and regulations, writes JASON BANNIER.
A new AI governance platform aims to give organisations a central inventory of AI models, agents and tools.
“SAS AI Navigator is now available to help AI, data, compliance and risk leaders bring order to AI chaos,” says SAS, a leading enterprise data and analytics software company. The standalone software-as-a-service was launched earlier this month (5 October 2026).
The platform, available on Microsoft Marketplace, enables leaders to compile a complete inventory of AI models and tools, including large language models, AI agents and open source or SAS models, and align their use with government regulations and internal policies. AI Navigator provides this unified view without requiring organisations to change how they build AI.
Customers will receive free access to SAS AI Navigator for six months.
Reggie Townsend, SAS VP of AI ethics, governance and social impact, says: “Trustworthy AI doesn’t happen by accident. It requires intention, transparency and the right governance structures from the start. With SAS AI Navigator, organisations can create the visibility and accountability needed to use AI confidently, responsibly and at scale.”
Lack of trust is undermining AI investments
Organisations with trustworthy AI practices were 15 times more likely to report strong returns on AI investments, according to the 2026 Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust.
The report also found that employees sometimes disregard AI recommendations when the systems cannot explain how decisions were reached, a concern as AI becomes more autonomous.
SAS AI Navigator allows organisations to manage AI use cases alongside the models and agents supporting them. For example, a company using a customer-service chatbot could identify the underlying AI technology, such as Claude or Microsoft Copilot, and apply policies to assess compliance with relevant regulations.
The platform covers AI use cases from initial testing and deployment through to retirement, including systems developed internally or purchased from third parties. Organisations can apply internal policies and external regulatory frameworks to individual use cases.
SAS partners Protiviti and Asenion provide policy packs containing compliance guidelines, assessment questions and risk classifications. These templates allow organisations to assess AI use cases against predefined requirements rather than developing each set of checks from scratch.
Healthcare is among the sectors where AI governance faces strict regulatory requirements. Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC), the largest university medical centre in the Netherlands, was an early tester of SAS AI Navigator. The medical centre has also partnered with SAS and Delft University of Technology to establish the Responsible Ethical AI in Health Care Lab (REAiHL), which focuses on translating ethical principles into technologies for clinical use.
Dr Michel van Genderen, an intensive care unit and internal medicine physician who also serves as an associate professor at Erasmus University, says: “We see real potential in SAS AI Navigator becoming a valuable tool for documenting and governing AI use within a healthcare organisation. It’s a promising foundation for centralising AI governance processes. The structure and intent of the tool align with what we believe is needed for policy oversight.”
The launch forms part of SAS’s existing strategic partnership with Microsoft. AI systems running on Microsoft Azure can be managed alongside those hosted in other environments, allowing organisations to use the platform across different cloud services.
Kathy Lange, IDC research director for AI, data and automation software, says: “Many organisations are struggling with AI sprawl as models, agents and third-party tools proliferate across the enterprise. A centralised approach to AI governance like that offered by SAS AI Navigator can help organisations understand what AI they have, how it is being used and whether it aligns with internal policies and external regulations.”
* Learn more about AI Navigator on the SAS website here.
* Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and deputy editor of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Bluesky at @jas2bann.
