What if the biggest lesson in analytics leadership is not about being “ready”, but about understanding where you are today? What if analytics leadership is not about having all the answers — but about knowing where you are on the journey? For Humphrey Brydon, Senior Lecturer and Departmental Chairperson at the University of the Western Cape, this was one of the strongest takeaways from the SAS Analytics Leadership Program.   Humphrey works in the Department of Statistics and Population Studies. He oversees academic programs with a strong industry focus, including a master’s program where students spend six months in real data environments. This makes it important for him and his team to stay close to what is happening in industry.   “We want to train our students, but we also want to keep ourselves up-skilled at the same time,” he says.   Learning for real data environments   The University of the Western Cape has worked with SAS for more than 20 years. When Humphrey heard about an analytics-focused leadership program, it immediately felt relevant.   Many leadership programs are general. But this one looks directly at analytics, AI, data maturity, business value and leadership. For Humphrey, this was important because his students need to be ready for real companies, real challenges and real decisions. They do not only need technical skills. They also need to understand the environment they will work in.   Are organizations already mature in analytics? Are they still developing? And how can young data professionals help them move forward? These are questions Humphrey now wants to bring more strongly into his teaching.   Maturity, not yes or no   One topic stood out most for him: analytics maturity. The program helped him see that analytics and AI are not black-and-white topics. It is not simply about whether an organization “has it” or “does not have it”. It is about maturity — where an organization is today and how it can develop further.   This view also fits well with the current AI discussion. Many organizations are excited about AI, but also careful. There is uncertainty about how to use the technology in the best way. For Humphrey, this makes maturity models and practical frameworks especially useful. “It is not about whether you have analytics or AI, or whether you do not have it. It is more about maturity. Where are you on that journey, and how do you develop further?”   Bringing it into teaching   Humphrey now plans to bring these ideas into his curriculum. He teaches topics such as data mining, business intelligence and optimization. In the future, he wants students to look beyond methods and models.   He wants them to ask: What is the organization’s level of maturity? What is possible in this environment? How can I use my skills to help the organization develop? This is where the value of the Analytics Leadership Program becomes very practical. It gives participants language, structure and ideas they can use directly in their own work. It also shows that analytics leadership is relevant across industries. Even as an academic leader, Humphrey found strong value in the exchange with participants from other backgrounds.   “You would think an analytics leadership program may not apply to an academic leader. But it does. It really does.”   A program for the next step   For Humphrey, the program was also a chance to take stock: of his own thinking, his department’s direction and the skills students will need in the future. This is what makes the SAS Analytics Leadership Program valuable for many organizations. It helps leaders, teams and educators understand analytics and AI in a more structured way. It can also be booked as training, including through Training Points, making it easier to invest in the people who guide data and AI transformation.   Because in the end, analytics is not limited to one industry or one role.   As Humphrey tells his students every year: “Data is in everything, everywhere, all the time. Be prepared.”     For anyone interested in analytics leadership, AI readiness and data-driven transformation, the Analytics Leadership Program page offers more background on the program and its focus areas.       ... View more

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Join this webinar to explore how to get from loading and exploring data to building interactive dashboards with compelling visualizations.     Watch the Webinar   In this webinar, you will learn: How to explore and prepare data for analysis in SAS Visual Analytics. Techniques for creating effective charts, reports and dashboards. Ways to add interactivity and share insights with stakeholders. Tips for prompting SAS® Viya® Copilot in SAS Visual Analytics. The questions from the Q&A segment held at the end of the webinar are listed below and the slides from the webinar are attached.   1. Does SAS Viya Copilot generate clinical study reports and provide the SAS code behind them? SAS Viya Copilot can generate SAS code that you can review and modify, but we don’t currently position it as generating a complete clinical study report together with the SAS code behind that report. For clinical programming workflows, Copilot can help generate, explain and modify SAS code, while reporting capabilities in SAS Visual Analytics are separate.   2. When we create a dashboard in SAS Viya, the values in a table are aligned to the right. How can I center them? In SAS Visual Analytics, you can use the Options pane on the right to change the alignment and center the values in the table.   3. Does SAS Viya Copilot use specific tools, such as those on an MCP server, or does the LLM determine which programs or tools need to run? With SAS Viya Copilot, the prompt you enter is sent to an LLM, which interprets your request and determines the appropriate tool to use. For example, if you ask Copilot to create a new object or modify an existing one, it maps that request to the appropriate internal tool.   The SAS MCP Server is separate. It provides tools, typically using REST APIs, that are structured to work well with LLMs. This allows you to use your own AI environment, such as Claude Code or Visual Studio Code with GitHub Copilot, to perform tasks in SAS Viya.   4. Can I get the SAS code generated by Copilot so I can use or modify it? In SAS Visual Analytics, Copilot isn't generating SAS code behind the report in that way. You can, for example, export the report as a report package. If you're looking for AI-generated SAS, Python, or R code that you can view and modify, that capability is available in SAS Data and AI Studio.   5. Where can I find the exact capabilities of SAS Viya Copilot? You can find the current capabilities in the SAS documentation. For SAS Visual Analytics, look for the Getting Assistance from SAS Viya Copilot section in the SAS Visual Analytics documentation.   At a high level, Copilot can help you get assistance with Visual Analytics tasks, manage and explore your data, work with data item properties, add objects to reports, and add interactivity. Because its functionality continues to expand, the documentation is the best place to check the currently available capabilities.   6. Can I use an on-premises LLM with SAS Viya Copilot? With the SAS Viya Copilot built into SAS Visual Analytics, the currently supported LLMs are cloud-based and provided by SAS, so you cannot select your own on-premises LLM for that Copilot experience.   If you want to use your own AI or an on-premises LLM to interact with SAS Viya, I recommend exploring the SAS MCP Server, which provides tools that an AI application can use to perform tasks in SAS Viya.   Recommended Resources Course: Using SAS® Viya® Copilot in SAS® Visual Analytics Getting Started with SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics Course: SAS Visual Analytics 1 for SAS® Viya: Basics Course: SAS® Visual Analytics 2 for SAS® Viya®: Advanced Getting Assistance from SAS Viya Copilot in SAS Visual Analytics SAS Viya MCP Server Please see additional resources in the attached slide deck.   Want more tips? Be sure to subscribe to the Ask the Expert board to receive follow-up Q&A, slides and recordings from other SAS Ask the Expert webinars. ... View more

Join this webinar to explore how to get from loading and exploring data to building interactive dashboards with compelling visualizations.     Watch the Webinar   In this webinar, you will learn: How to explore and prepare data for analysis in SAS Visual Analytics. Techniques for creating effective charts, reports and dashboards. Ways to add interactivity and share insights with stakeholders. Tips for prompting SAS® Viya® Copilot in SAS Visual Analytics. The questions from the Q&A segment held at the end of the webinar are listed below and the slides from the webinar are attached.   1. Does SAS Viya Copilot generate clinical study reports and provide the SAS code behind them? SAS Viya Copilot can generate SAS code that you can review and modify, but we don’t currently position it as generating a complete clinical study report together with the SAS code behind that report. For clinical programming workflows, Copilot can help generate, explain and modify SAS code, while reporting capabilities in SAS Visual Analytics are separate.   2. When we create a dashboard in SAS Viya, the values in a table are aligned to the right. How can I center them? In SAS Visual Analytics, you can use the Options pane on the right to change the alignment and center the values in the table.   3. Does SAS Viya Copilot use specific tools, such as those on an MCP server, or does the LLM determine which programs or tools need to run? With SAS Viya Copilot, the prompt you enter is sent to an LLM, which interprets your request and determines the appropriate tool to use. For example, if you ask Copilot to create a new object or modify an existing one, it maps that request to the appropriate internal tool.   The SAS MCP Server is separate. It provides tools, typically using REST APIs, that are structured to work well with LLMs. This allows you to use your own AI environment, such as Claude Code or Visual Studio Code with GitHub Copilot, to perform tasks in SAS Viya.   4. Can I get the SAS code generated by Copilot so I can use or modify it? In SAS Visual Analytics, Copilot isn't generating SAS code behind the report in that way. You can, for example, export the report as a report package. If you're looking for AI-generated SAS, Python, or R code that you can view and modify, that capability is available in SAS Data and AI Studio.   5. Where can I find the exact capabilities of SAS Viya Copilot? You can find the current capabilities in the SAS documentation. For SAS Visual Analytics, look for the Getting Assistance from SAS Viya Copilot section in the SAS Visual Analytics documentation.   At a high level, Copilot can help you get assistance with Visual Analytics tasks, manage and explore your data, work with data item properties, add objects to reports, and add interactivity. Because its functionality continues to expand, the documentation is the best place to check the currently available capabilities.   6. Can I use an on-premises LLM with SAS Viya Copilot? With the SAS Viya Copilot built into SAS Visual Analytics, the currently supported LLMs are cloud-based and provided by SAS, so you cannot select your own on-premises LLM for that Copilot experience.   If you want to use your own AI or an on-premises LLM to interact with SAS Viya, I recommend exploring the SAS MCP Server, which provides tools that an AI application can use to perform tasks in SAS Viya.   Recommended Resources Course: Using SAS® Viya® Copilot in SAS® Visual Analytics Getting Started with SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics Course: SAS Visual Analytics 1 for SAS® Viya: Basics Course: SAS® Visual Analytics 2 for SAS® Viya®: Advanced Getting Assistance from SAS Viya Copilot in SAS Visual Analytics SAS Viya MCP Server Please see additional resources in the attached slide deck.   Want more tips? Be sure to subscribe to the Ask the Expert board to receive follow-up Q&A, slides and recordings from other SAS Ask the Expert webinars. ... View more