The rush to implement AI leaves organisations struggling to track its use, with the promise of increased productivity leading to overreliance on unproven AI without sufficient trustworthy AI safeguards. To bring order to the chaos, SAS® AI Navigator will soon be available to help AI, data, compliance and risk leaders compile a complete AI inventory and align AI use cases with government regulations and internal policies. 

"AI governance is too often thought of as a compliance measure," said Reggie Townsend, Vice President, SAS AI Ethics, Governance and Social Impact. "It's a growth driver. Instead of fears of shadow AI putting the organisation at risk, AI governance empowers people to push the limits of AI within a structured, transparent and secure environment."

An AI governance breakthrough solution comes at a critical moment

The use of AI agents and LLMs is outpacing trustworthy AI investments, per a study of trust in AI by SAS and IDC.  At the same time, Gartner predicts that by 2030 more than 40% of enterprises will experience security or compliance incidents linked to unauthorised shadow AI. 

Into this tumultuous environment comes SAS AI Navigator. Available in Q3 2026 on Microsoft Azure Marketplace, SAS AI Navigator is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that enables organisations to inventory and govern AI use cases, which are at the point of business impact. The governance extends to models and agents that power use cases, as well as the policies applied to them. For instance, companies using chatbots to interact with customers would not only be able to govern the underlying agent or model, such as Claude or Microsoft Copilot, but also apply policies to ensure it's adhering to regulatory expectations.

Organisations don't need to change how they build AI; SAS AI Navigator offers a unified view of whatever models and tools they already use, including LLMs, AI agents and open source or SAS models. It supports the full journey from experimentation to deployment through retirement, providing a unified view of all governed assets whether built in-house or purchased from third parties. SAS AI Navigator also makes it easy for users to apply internal policies and external regulations and frameworks to AI use cases.

Building on a five-decade legacy of responsible innovation

SAS AI Navigator expands an already well-regarded AI governance portfolio. SAS has 50 years of experience helping customers deploy transformational technologies in a responsible manner – expertise recognised by industry analysts. Chartis Research recently named SAS a category leader in the Chartis RiskTech Quadrant® for AI Governance Solutions, citing the SAS® Viya® platform's "leading governance capabilities that extend classic machine learning, model risk management, explainability, bias detection, privacy protection and end-to-end monitoring to the broader enterprise AI environment."

"By combining these capabilities with its deep expertise in regulated industries, SAS is in a position to demonstrate AI as a growth strategy for clients and prospects," said Michael Versace, Research Director for Governance, Resilience and Compliance at Chartis.

What is AI governance?

AI governance is what organisations do to accelerate innovation, manage risk and ensure AI is trustworthy. It is an all-encompassing strategy that establishes AI oversight, ensures compliance and develops consistent operations and infrastructure within an organisation. It begins with an organisational culture centred on human needs, then scales through robust operational tools for transparency, proactive regulatory compliance and consistent, systemic oversight.

Strong AI governance builds trust with customers, regulators and internal stakeholders such as boards of directors and employees. Organisations with robust AI governance frameworks are better positioned to strengthen trust in AI-driven decisions and confidently manage AI risks. Without AI governance, organisations face an increased risk of legal penalties, reputational damage from biased or opaque AI decisions, operational inefficiencies, and lack of stakeholder trust in their brand.

"The biggest risk to any AI governance program isn't regulation; it's a tool so complex that no one uses it," said Townsend. "SAS AI Navigator was designed to make the path to responsible AI irresistible."

How SAS supports AI governance

With decades of governance experience, SAS supports AI governance with capabilities embedded throughout SAS software and in a comprehensive product portfolio for all areas of governance, risk and compliance. Users can perform model risk management, model interpretability, bias detection and mitigation, data masking and more.

SAS AI Navigator is a standalone SaaS solution that works for SAS' new or existing customers. It is the latest addition to a growing portfolio of SAS AI governance offerings designed to meet organisations where they are in their AI maturity. 

Organisations interested in a private preview of SAS AI Navigator can apply here. 

This announcement was made at SAS Innovate, the company's global data and AI conference, as SAS celebrates 50 years of innovation. This year's event is proudly supported by our partner sponsors, including Microsoft, Intel and AWS.