November 2025

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Fun With SAS ODS Graphics: Thanksgiving Turkey Crown
"Here's a SAS ODS Graphics (GTL) take on those Turkey headband craft projects for kids. Happy Thanksgiving, all!" -SAS Communities user tc.

Dear Reader,

As we gather around the table this Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of how gratitude and growth often go hand in hand. This season isn’t just about reflecting on what we’re thankful for… It’s about looking ahead to opportunities that inspire us to think bigger and act bolder.

That’s why I’m excited to share an update about a special opportunity, SAS Innovate: We've confirmed Mel Robbins as a featured guest! Robbins is a powerhouse speaker whose insights on motivation and resilience have resonated with millions. My own parents are huge fans, so much so that they gifted me her book The Let Them Theory after listening to it as an audiobook. In a nutshell, the theory says to let other people do whatever they decide to (Let Them) and then respond accordingly to what's in your power without trying to control them (Let Me).

As a reminder, SAS Innovate is your chance to explore cutting-edge analytics, AI breakthroughs, and strategies that will shape the future of business. Whether you’re looking to sharpen your skills or spark new ideas, this event is designed to help you thrive. I'll “let you” make the decision to attend.

So as you savor the holiday, take a moment to imagine what’s possible, and join us in making it happen at SAS Innovate from April 27–30!

Thiago De Souza
Editor, SAS Tech Report

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Tech tips with Chris

I recently met with a SAS customer who was showing off some cool SAS macros that he built to enable other SAS users in his organization. During his demo, I noticed that he included very user-friendly messages in the SAS log, complete with indentation and emojis to make it pretty.

Even though most modern SAS environments are now running in UTF-8 encoding (a requirement if you want to process text that includes emojis), it never occurred to me to decorate my SAS log in this way. But now, it's all I want to do!

This SAS user used some AI code assistants to help create his code, including the emoji-rich logs. Somehow, it made the program seem more...fun. That's a cool achievement for most of us SAS programmers. Check out this sample output:

As I mentioned, you have to use SAS with OPTIONS ENCODING=UTF8; that's the default setting for SAS Viya and even most SAS 9.4 users run this now, given the diversity of characters in data they process. If you use ENCODING=LATIN1, you're limited to classic ASCII art.

What do you think? Would you ever consider adding emojis to your SAS log messages? Let me know why or why not!

Tips & tricks

Revolutionizing industrial safety: How digital twins and AI are transforming PPE detection
AI and advanced analytics are rewriting the rules of workplace safety, predicting risks before they happen and empowering companies to protect workers while boosting efficiency. It’s not just safety; it’s smart business.

SAS Viya Workload Management
Take control of your analytics environment with smarter workload management in SAS Viya. Optimize resources, boost performance, and keep critical jobs running smoothly so your data works as hard as you do.

Model Risk Management at your fingertips: Just ask!
Managing model risk has never been easier. With automation and analytics, organizations can stay compliant, make faster decisions, and turn risk into opportunity; all from a streamlined, intuitive platform.

Convert integers between different bases in SAS
Switching between number systems doesn’t have to be tricky. Discover how SAS simplifies and streamlines the conversion of integers across bases, making it ideal for professionals working with cryptography, coding, or data transformations.

Quasi-Monte Carlo integration in SAS
Discover how Quasi-Monte Carlo methods can accelerate simulations and improve accuracy. Learn why these advanced techniques are a game-changer for analysts tackling complex, high-dimensional problems.

Agentic AI in SAS Intelligent Decisioning Cheat Sheet: How to Get Started Fast
Ready to harness the power of Agentic AI? This cheat sheet shows you how to integrate intelligent agents into decision flows, automate complex tasks, and unlock smarter, faster business decisions.

Speeding Up SAS Viya Jobs with Compute Tasks
Want faster results? Learn how Compute Tasks in SAS Viya can streamline job execution, reduce wait times, and keep your analytics running at peak performance, so you can focus on insights, not delays.

Step Into SAS Data Maker: A Practical First Look
Explore SAS Data Maker and see how it simplifies creating realistic test data for analytics and modeling. This practical guide helps you get started quickly, so you can build, test, and innovate with confidence.

Use case

Saving children's lives with data and predictive analytics
Children’s Specialized Hospital partnered with SAS to leverage advanced analytics, improving patient care and operational efficiency. By using data-driven insights, the hospital enhanced treatment outcomes and streamlined processes, demonstrating the power of analytics in healthcare.

For developers

AI Agents and Agentic AI: What’s the Difference?
In this SAS Communities article, Cat Troxillo discusses two distinct design philosophies currently defining how autonomous intelligent systems engage with the world: AI agents and agentic AI. The terms are similar, but they represent technologies with different attributes. Access the article and read on.

SAS Bowl LVII, SAS Data Maker and Synthetic Data
SAS Data Maker uses algorithms to unlock the potential of existing data with an easy-to-use interface that quickly generates the right amount of synthetic data for your goals. We’re featuring this topic in the December edition of the SAS Bowl!

Upcoming learning events

(Each is one hour and complimentary unless stated otherwise.)

Ask the Expert: Smarter Access to Open Data: Introducing SAS/ACCESS to DuckDB
Join SAS' Robin Thompson and Anand Bisen at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, December 2 to see the SAS integration with DuckDB and explore how it empowers users to get faster, simpler insights from data. You will learn how:

SAS/ACCESS to DuckDB eliminates the need for database setup.
DuckDB’s in-process engine delivers exceptional speed for modern analytics workloads.
Trends like self-service analytics, open data architectures and embedded SQL engines are reshaping the landscape – and how SAS is leading the way.

Ask the Expert: Marketing Decisions Excellence: Turning Insights Into Business Impact
Join SAS' Mathias Bouten at 9:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, December 16 to learn how to manage the complexity of marketing decisioning in an ever-changing and often real-time environment. You will learn how:

To operationalize customer insights into real-time, personalized decisions that scale.
To use arbitration, business rules and contextual data to drive the next best action.
Other industries use decisioning excellence that translates into measurable business impact.

A Modernization Success Story: How One Bank’s Move to the Cloud Sparked a Culture of Innovation
Learn how Aldermore Bank transformed two disconnected analytics environments into one unified cloud platform with SAS Viya. Discover practical strategies for migration, tips for modernizing code, and the benefits of speed, automation, and expanded analytics use cases. Complimentary webinar on Dec. 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET | 4:00 p.m. CET.

Western Users of SAS Software (WUSS) Virtual Classes
WUSS is excited to announce the return of WUSS Virtual Classes for the 2025–2026 season! Join several of their most popular half-day training classes, taught by seasoned industry experts, for just $99 each. Check out detailed course descriptions, meet the instructors, and register today. Explore classes and register.