Software-as-a-Service solution arrives on Microsoft Marketplace at a time when AI trust is at a premium

CARY, N.C., Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SAS^® AI Navigator is now available to help AI, data, compliance and risk leaders bring order to AI chaos. The new SaaS AI governance solution, available on Microsoft Marketplace, enables leaders to compile a complete AI inventory and align AI use cases with government regulations and internal policies. Organizations do not need to change how they build AI; SAS AI Navigator offers a unified view of the models and tools they already use, including LLMs, AI agents and open source or SAS models.

Customers will receive free access to SAS AI Navigatorfor six months.

"Trustworthy AI doesn't happen by accident. It requires intention, transparency and the right governance structures from the start," said Reggie Townsend, Vice President, SAS AI Ethics, Governance and Social Impact. "With SAS AI Navigator, organizations can create the visibility and accountability needed to use AI confidently, responsibly and at scale."

Learn how to get started with SAS AI Navigator.

Lack of trust is undermining AI investments

The 2026 Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust, a new SAS report with research insights from IDC, shows that organizations that get trust right are 15 times more likely to see strong returns on AI. The report also highlights a growing enterprise challenge: as AI becomes more autonomous, employees often override its recommendations when they cannot understand or explain how decisions were made.

Into this environment of hard-earned trust comes SAS AI Navigator, which enables organizations to inventory and govern AI use cases, where business impact occurs. 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 be able to govern the underlying agent or model, such as Claude or Microsoft Copilot, and apply policies to ensure that the use case adheres to regulatory expectations.

SAS AI Navigator 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.

Policy packs from SAS Partners such as Protiviti and Asenion offer customers out-of-the-box collections of compliance guidelines designed to help organizations quickly adopt new AI technologies responsibly. Instead of writing a complex company policy from scratch, policy packs provide ready-to-use questions and risk classifications that can be quickly applied to use cases.

Trust and AI governance are particularly critical in highly regulated industries like health care. Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC), the largest university medical center in the Netherlands, partnered with SAS and the Delft University of Technology to create the Responsible Ethical AI in Health Care Lab (REAiHL). The lab's mission is to translate high-level ethical principles into practical, bedside-ready technologies. Erasmus MC was an early tester of SAS AI Navigator.

"We see real potential in SAS AI Navigator becoming a valuable tool for documenting and governing AI use within a healthcare organization," said Dr. Michel van Genderen, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Internal Medicine Physician and Associate Professor at Erasmus University. "It's a promising foundation for centralizing AI governance processes. The structure and intent of the tool align with what we believe is needed for policy oversight."

The launch of SAS AI Navigator on Microsoft Marketplace complements SAS' longstanding strategic partnership with Microsoft. The organizations are united by a shared goal: helping customers accelerate AI adoption while maintaining governance, transparency and trust at all levels of their organization. By helping organizations inventory and manage AI use cases across diverse environments, including those running on Microsoft Azure, SAS AI Navigator enables enterprises to move from experimentation to responsible scale.

Building on a five-decade legacy of responsible innovation

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 organizations where they are in their AI maturity. SAS has 50 years of experience helping customers deploy transformational technologies in a responsible manner – expertise recognized by industry analysts. 

"Many organizations are struggling with AI sprawl as models, agents and third-party tools proliferate across the enterprise," said Kathy Lange, Research Director, AI, Data and Automation Software, IDC. "A centralized approach to AI governance like that offered by SAS AI Navigator can help organizations understand what AI they have, how it is being used and whether it aligns with internal policies and external regulations."

About SAS 

SAS is a global leader in data and AI, helping organizations make confident decisions with AI they can trust. For decades, SAS has set the standard for delivering software that drives meaningful impact, incorporating deep industry expertise, transparency and governance. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®. 

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2026 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

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Trent Smith
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