Intelligent decisioning is emerging as a cornerstone of modern enterprise artificial intelligence as organizations shift from isolated experiments to operationalized, accountable outcomes.

In sectors such as financial services and life sciences, where speed, trust and compliance are non-negotiable, decisioning frameworks are becoming essential to translate massive volumes of data into reliable, real-time action. With AI now deeply embedded in business processes, the spotlight is on platforms that can unify data, models and rules within governed environments. Recent developments from SAS Institute Inc. and Microsoft Corp. signal a pivotal moment in this evolution, as the two companies double down on co-engineered technologies that put intelligent decisioning at the forefront of enterprise transformation, according to Jared Peterson (pictured, right), senior vice president of research and development at SAS.

Microsoft’s Eduardo Joia and SAS’ Jared Peterson speak to theCUBE about intelligent decisioning.

“Intelligent decisioning and now Decision Builder in Fabric, is really all about that last mile of AI and analytics,” Peterson said. “That last mile is where you get into some of the tricky parts of getting to real business value with AI and analytics.”

Peterson and Eduardo Joia (left), chief technology officer and managing director for financial services industry at Microsoft, spoke with theCUBE’s Rebecca Knight and Scott Hebner at SAS Innovate, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how intelligent decisioning is becoming essential to enterprise AI strategies, with SAS and Microsoft partnering to deliver scalable, trustworthy solutions that turn data into actionable outcomes across regulated industries. (* Disclosure below.)

How intelligent decisioning thrives in the SAS and Microsoft partnership

The integration of SAS Viya capabilities into Microsoft Fabric offers a horizontal framework on which domain-specific use cases can be rapidly built and operationalized. At its core, this partnership is about co-engineering scalable, compliant AI solutions that are both productive and transparent. Microsoft Fabric provides the strong infrastructure and model access, while SAS layers on the domain expertise and decisioning logic tailored to industries such as finance.

“Fabric was designed to be like what we call OneLake,” Joia explained. “Many organizations today as they grow, they have different data styles. What Fabric does, it connects out these different data styles and makes them available for you to use in AI. It creates an abstraction layer. Then on top of it, we provide this foundation and then we provide a larger language models which we train with responsible AI.”

As enterprise clients struggle to move beyond AI proof-of-concepts to operational success, tools such as SAS Viya Workbench and Decision Builder are designed to solve this challenge head-on. The companies are also exploring next-generation technologies, including agentic AI and quantum computing, that will further enhance decisioning capabilities. By layering drag-and-drop decision flows with copilots, SAS and Microsoft are making powerful AI accessible while maintaining the controls needed for compliance and trust, according to Peterson.

“We got a lot of fancy demos, but we’re struggling to translate those into actual value in our business,” he said. “That’s where I think when Viya comes to the table, we’re bringing all these years of expertise. That flow is very much focused at those exact concerns. There is real value, and Microsoft is really on the bleeding edge of, this is how transformative some of this can be.”

SAS and Microsoft’s shared culture of collaboration, focus on responsible AI and commitment to regulated industries set this partnership apart. With decades of combined experience and co-located engineering teams, their synergy is uniquely positioned to guide customers through the complexities of intelligent decisioning, according to Peterson.

“You’ve got this powerhouse on the desktop now, cloud computing, reinvigorated,” he added. “Then on the SAS side you’ve got a company that in some ways created the whole space of big data, big data analytics, and now, you’re bringing all that together.”

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

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for SAS Innovate. 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