Do you get excited about the newest innovations and technologies on the market, the world of data and the future of AI? Then mark your calendars because SAS Innovate in Las Vegas is just around the corner.

SAS Innovate, our annual event for business leaders, technical users and SAS partners, will feature more than 200 sessions with some of the brightest minds in the industry, exciting keynote speakers and tons of fun to go with it. It is Las Vegas, after all. Whether you’re like me, the curious blog editor or a seasoned data scientist or business leader, SAS Innovate will have something for everyone to enjoy.

To help you navigate through the sea of exciting sessions, I’ve handpicked seven that are guaranteed to leave you feeling inspired and eager to make a difference in your organization. Let’s talk about them.

1. Accelerating code in SAS^® Viya^® with SAS Cloud Analytic Services

SAS Viya has a wealth of new analytic and data management capabilities. It’s gained a reputation as a resilient, scalable, open source platform.

One of the first sessions available during the four-day event features a course for SAS programmers who want to run code on SAS Viya. You’ll learn how to transition traditional SAS code to SAS Viya and how to use SAS Cloud Analytic Services (CAS) for even better performance. CAS is a high-performance in-memory analytic engine that performs massive parallel processing (MPP) on data of any size, working with multiple machines, CPUs and threads for lightning-fast results.

The course will cover everything from accessing and managing data to analyzing and manipulating tables on the distributed CAS server. Just a heads-up, though – this course isn't for beginners. So, if you're up for the challenge, join in!

2. SAS Hackathon boot camps!

Nowadays, we’re all waiting for the next big thing to come across our daily feeds. Why not let it be you that creates it? Participating in the SAS Hackathon boot camps at SAS Innovate will be your chance to invent something that could change how we do business or approach humanitarian causes.

With just two sessions on day one of the event, we’ll challenge you to collaborate with your team using AI, analytics and open source tools on SAS Viya. Choose between a coding or low/no-code option, get assigned to a team, compete to have fun and win prizes!

3. Hear from inspiring speakers at our general sessions

Where can you meet an iconic Silicon Valley reporter, a bestselling business book author, an experienced AI policy executive, a chief decision scientist from Google and a YouTube hot wings sensation? All in one place? At SAS Innovate, of course.

Here's what you should know about all of our keynote speaker sessions!

• Cassie Kozyrkov: Day two of SAS Innovate will kick off with an opening session packed with exciting updates and customer speakers, followed by a keynote by Cassie Kozyrkov, CEO of Data Scientific and former Chief Decision Scientist at Google.
• Sean Evans and Bryan Harris: Sean Evans, Host of Hot Ones, will interview SAS CTO Bryan Harris while exploring AI and analytics and Bryan’s heat tolerance to hot wings.
• Kara Swisher and Miriam Vogel: Hear about new innovations, followed by a responsible AI panel moderated by Kara Swisher, Host of the On with Kara Swisher and Pivot podcasts and Editor-at-Large at New York Magazine; featuring Miriam Vogel, Chair of the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC) and President and CEO of EqualAI, and Reggie Townsend, SAS Vice President of Data Ethics.
• Adam Grant: Prepare to be inspired by Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at Wharton whose work has redefined our understanding of workplace dynamics. He’s also a bestselling author of Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things.

4. Navigating the ethics of generative AI

Many of us are learning about GenAI’s potential to revolutionize how we write, develop, create and solve problems. However, like any other system, it can introduce ethical risks if not deployed responsibly.

Attending this session will equip you with the key questions and considerations for conducting an ethical inquiry into GenAI from an executive perspective.

There will be other sessions discussing GenAI, including:

• GenAI, pre-trained models and the future of forecasting: We’ll explore how GenAI streamlines forecasting, delivering faster and more precise results. Plus, we’ll talk about the challenges of pre-trained models and reliable integration methods for GenAI technologies.
• Getting started with GenAI: In this tutorial, you will learn the essentials of GenAI, how it differs from AI and how SAS can work with the latest innovations in GenAI.
• Securely build GenAI apps with SAS Viya and AWS: Join this session to learn how SAS Viya and Amazon Web Services (AWS) capabilities can help organizations build secure GenAI applications. Also, get advice on how to craft a data strategy that upholds best practices and trustworthiness for GenAI applications.

5. How do I modify SAS^®9 programs to run in SAS Viya?

If you’re as curious as I am about that answer, attend this hands-on workshop to learn how existing SAS^®9 programs can be modified to execute in SAS Viya. This workshop is perfect for programmers new to SAS Viya and addresses the three questions they will likely ask.

1. What is Viya, and how will it improve my ability to prepare and analyze data?
2. Will existing SAS^®9 code work in Viya?
3. How must my programs change to take advantage of the new features in Viya?

6. Enforcing trustworthy AI standards in analytical projects

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released an AI Risk Management Framework for the trustworthy and responsible use of AI and analytics. In this session, we’ll show how SAS tooling makes NIST recommendations easier to adopt and how to ensure that analytical models don’t create disparate impact or harm.

Attendees of this session will gain a greater understanding of trustworthy AI best practices and user roles and expectations for building responsible analytics. We'll also demonstrate how SAS supports a production model with documentation showing that an organization has done its due diligence for a fair model with processes that don’t cause undue harm.

7. Charting the path for AI innovation in health care

Is the current wave of technological advancement in health care hype or reality? The importance of AI in and across health care isn’t just the buzz of 2024 – it’s also the action of 2024. As health care providers lean more heavily on using technology to serve patients better, the focus on safe, equitable, governed and transparent innovation remains top of mind.

In this session, hear from clinical leaders as they share tangible insights on both bringing AI to the point of care and leading necessary organizational change across a health delivery system.

Explore more sessions at SAS Innovate

Looking to learn about more SAS Innovate sessions? These seven highlights are just the beginning of the lineup awaiting you.

Explore the agenda and map out sessions you’d like to attend!