Huizen, November 13, 2024 – SAS, the global market leader in data and AI, announces the acquisition of key software assets from Hazy, a pioneer in synthetic data technology. With this strategic acquisition, SAS further expands its extensive data and AI portfolio, providing customers with access to essential and timely synthetic data generation capabilities. This is becoming increasingly important as the use of AI rapidly increases.
“Our acquisition of Hazy’s IP represents a critical step in our commitment to innovation in the next generation of data management and AI,” said Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS. “Hazy is a pioneer in bringing synthetic data to market as a useful business product and is rated by analysts as one of the best software providers in its category. By integrating their technology, we can offer our customers unparalleled capabilities to use data securely and effectively. This allows them to experiment and model scenarios that were previously unfeasible and gain an edge over the competition.”
The integration of Hazy’s technology expands on SAS Data Maker’s announcement in early 2024. SAS Data Maker addresses data challenges by generating synthetic data that statistically represents the original data sets without compromising privacy, while simultaneously simplifying processes simplify and save resources. This positions SAS at the forefront of data innovation and enables more powerful and secure AI applications, as well as future integration options with SAS Viya.
Leading in innovation of synthetic data
Kathy Lange, Research Director, AI Software at IDC, said: “Synthetic data is critical to the future of AI, especially in industries with strict privacy regulations such as healthcare and finance. This acquisition highlights the growing belief that synthetic data is a key component in the AI toolkit. This addresses data scarcity and privacy issues, while improving model accuracy and minimizing biases.”
Synthetic data mimics the statistical patterns of real data without revealing private, identifiable, or confidential information. This reduces the risks associated with using real data, and increases the amount of data available for analysis and AI. This expansion leads to robust, reliable results and innovative solutions for data scientists who can structure datasets more effectively.
Bryan Harris, Chief Technology Officer of SAS, added: “Analysts predict that 75% of businesses will use generative AI to create synthetic customer data by 2026, up from less than 5% in 2023. For SAS customers, this is an important advancements that further strengthen SAS’s leadership in AI and analytics. Synthetic data enables customers to innovate and conduct deep research, overcoming challenges in data availability, accessibility and quality.”
Integration with Hazy technology in SAS Data Maker allows multiple future scenarios to be simulated, providing SAS customers with a significant competitive advantage.
Enhanced innovation and research by providing access to rich, synthetic data sets that were previously inaccessible, driving new opportunities and developments.
Faster time to market by rapidly generating high-quality synthetic data, accelerating the development cycle for AI projects.
Reliable AI systems with robust synthetic data processes and diverse synthetic data sets that allow organizations to develop reliable AI systems that meet ethical standards.
Increased data privacy and security by generating synthetic data that does not reveal real, identifiable information.
Cost savings by minimizing reliance on expensive data collection methods, making data more accessible for analysis.
The enhanced data solutions resulting from this acquisition will be available worldwide. A first preview is expected in early 2025.
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