Data to Dashboard in 10 minutes with SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics

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SAS Visual Analytics leads the way in interactive reporting, visual discovery and self-service analytics. It empowers teams to make better business decisions and all this from a single, powerful in-memory environment. Now with the availability of SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics the bar is set even higher! Report designers can build and refine dashboards, uncover insights and generate AI-powered summaries even more seamlessly and efficiently.

SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics helps report designers work faster by:

• Generating ad hoc analyses
• Surfacing insights
• Automating routine tasks

It acts as a conversational AI assistant that:

• Searches documentation
• Guides users through complex workflows

It is available through:

• A chat interface
• In-context experiences within SAS Visual Analytics

10-Minutes Step-by-step Demo that you all can try

Based on my experience, it works wonders for ad hoc analysis of your data, for creating visuals. It also helps with dashboard design, with creating filters and calculated items. Please note that the quality of the results generated by SAS Viya Copilot depends on the quality of your data. Ambiguous prompts given by the users will generate imperfect output. It’s also important to keep in mind that some complex calculations need manual refinement and expert validation.

Let’s directly put SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics into action.

Step 1: Launch SAS Visual Analytics and create a new report

Step 2: Open SAS Viya Copilot side pane

Did you spot SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics icon? Click on it to open the side pane.

Step 3: Load Data

You can choose data source from available in-memory tables or import data. SAS Viya Copilot can do that for you as well with this simple prompt:

Disclaimer: I have used a sample dataset that’s about storm data. Reason for using this data is because it’s generic in nature and straightforward to understand. You can choose any dataset that’s relevant to your business.

Copilot prompt:

• Load Storm dataset

Result:

Step 4: Prepare Data

After SAS Viya Copilot loads the data, it will help you to prepare it as well. Try these simple prompts to create new calculated columns, change classification of data items or filter the data. This helps to make your data meaningful and ready for next step.

Copilot prompt:

• Create Calculated item for total number of storms in the dataset. Label it as TotalStorms

Result:

Did you observe how SAS Viya Copilot not only generates the results based on your prompt but also explains them elaborately? After creating TotalStorms calculated item, it describes the logic used which is -> Count(ForAll, Name)

Copilot prompt:

• Change classification of Name to Geography based on Basin using Lat and Lon data items as latitude and longitude respectively.

Result:

Step 5: Create visuals

What’s report without visuals? SAS Copilot does a wonderful job and creates multiple visuals in one single prompt. Such a timesaver!

Copilot prompt:

• Create visual to show total number of storms

Results:

Copilot prompt:

• Create one more visual on the same page to show locations of storms

Results:

Copilot prompt:

• Add drop down for Basin on the top of this page

Results:

SAS Viya Copilot works swiftly and creates all the visuals based on the prompt.

However, some of the visuals might not turn out to be as per your expectations. Take some time to review and refine if needed.

Step 6: Add interactivity

Now that we have almost completed report creation, it’s time to add interactivity and make things even clearer for our stakeholders.

Copilot prompt:

• Add filter for Type

Results:

Copilot prompt:

• Add two sliders for StartDate and EndDate

Results:

Want to do more with SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics? Just right-click on the side pane and explore demo scenarios, prompt catalog, quick responses and so on.

The possibilities are unlimited. SAS Viya Copilot clearly understands the assignment and delivers impressive results.  It’s an amazing productivity aid for Business analysts, report designers and any information worker to get the most out of SAS Visual Analytics and take sound business decisions.

Have you tried SAS Viya Copilot for SAS Visual Analytics yet? Do let me know how you use it for your business.