Today I am thankful to work at a company that has and continues to help me provide for my family in a lucrative and very stable fashion for 25+ years.
Viya CAN Run at least 80% of SAS9 code …
… prove me wrong! SAS Viya IS SAS — it has a Compute Server that runs traditional Datastep, PROCs, the Macro facility, etc. This being the case, most SAS customers CAN run their SAS9 code successfully in Viya. So, why all the Viya hate here? ... — read more
Viya Haters Club Meetups
in R this week. Tell mgmt how much you hate Viya. Meetup workshops for directors and VPs on how to write vague linkedin posts about wanting a new challenge. Everyone else can attend a session about applying for unemployment during the holidays.
Big reorg…
…are big layoffs far behind?
China closure, why?
There was no clear messaging as to the “why” of the China office closure. Anyone have insight? Clearly it’s not to bring jobs to back US as replacement hiring has been happening Glasgow since summer. I wonder if SAS is chasing federal projects... — read more
Demand for SAS' Retrieval Agent Manager since GA?
I'm curious how do folks feel about SAS' Agentic AI solution (Retrieval Agent Manager) that was GA'd last month? Is anyone seeing much customer interest or demand to date? ... — read more
SAS pulling the plug on certain regions . . .
Welp. Was checking my email and just got the news. Whoever predicted that things have been a little too quiet recently was right on the money. It's a shame, I've worked with many developers and testers from the region and have been helped... — read more
Cost cutting
DAE notice recent cost cutting on fairly inexpensive things? I’ve seen sw tools licenses being cancelled + a few other things. How long til we’re drinking Folgers instant, heh? What have you seen?
SAS pushing "Trustworthy AI"............what does it mean?
SAS has been pushing this angle for the past year.......a line repeated in several executive presentations. TRUSTWORTHY AI: Ensuring AI systems are trained on diverse datasets to avoid bias and promote equitable outcomes.
Impact of AI at SAS and its workers in the next few years
What will be the impact at SAS with AI in the coming years? Are you worried? Calacanis warned: "Before 2030 you’re going to see Amazon, which has massively invested in [AI], replace all factory workers and all drivers … It will be 100% robotic... — read more
Anyone else feel like the hammer is about to come down?
It has been eerily quiet for far too long. There were some changes in the beginning of the year. Other tech companies have been making sweeping changes and layoffs all throughout the year. It has been quiet around here. I feel there will be... — read more
Another DEI Investment
Just kidding… https://english.aawsat.com/business/5195303-sas-opens-riyadh-hub-pledges-1bn-boost-ai-growth Confucius say: software revenue from oil $$ counts the same as from domestic $$. Confucius also say: no Saudi visits to HQ in June What... — read more
Dinsmore's Assessment
"It's 2017... Your SAS Account Executive wants a meeting. She wants to tell you all about SAS Viya, SAS’s “open, cloud-ready, next-generation high-performance analytics and visualization architecture.” SAS launched Viya last year, and it’s a... — read more
Triangle Business Journal article (Oct 1 / 2025) YAWN
I guess most if not all of this article seemed to be available from the link I've pasted below. But it didn't really convey any news other than "I'm not dead yet". Maybe someone with better reading comprehension / oiji board skills than myself can... — read more
Recent Management Survey
In the past week or so, everybody got a request to complete a management survey. Is this mandatory to fill out? It would be ideal to fill it out honestly, but I'm worried about possible retaliation, especially given situations witnessed in the... — read more
How much was invested in Viya?
A conservative guess: 10years$100,000annual salary30 developers=$30,000,000 salary investment That is just a salary investment guess. No idea on the infrastructure investment(offices, hardware required pipeline software, etc) For comparison... — read more
100k H1B Visa fee
The president just signed an EO adding a 100K fee to the H1B Visa application, per year. Is that per position or per hiring company? Amazon had 10,000+ of these Visas last year. Does that mean we will see more job openings in tech?
Things feel heavy
Is it just me? Or are people in different parts of the company feeling this weird feeling of disconnection? Feels like people don't communicate anymore. Even the executives don't. Like they've given up. People seem to be going through the motions... — read more
Any department / team that is thriving?
Do you know if there is any department or a team that is still thriving at SAS?
Whatever happened to "Big Data" ?
I don't hear much about "Big Data" anymore. Was it a fad? Did brute force processing of big data prove unnecessary? Did business choose and anoint a particular vendor's product or has brute force been replaced by AI? Viya was originally about... — read more
Early retiree/layoffee health insurance
Anyone who retired early or was layed off prior to Medicare have insights into Cobra vs ACA? Interested in the cost vs policy quality comparisons for those who have been through it. I know based on W2 box 12DD that the SAS insurance comes out to... — read more
What do you miss from the “old SAS”?
I’’ll start: Yearly pay raises close to or exceeding inflation Accepting salary based on 35hr/wk, flash forward, management expectation of 40-50, no adjustment Pressure to ignore benefits paid by lower salary like RFC for “azz in chair” time
SAS not in Forbes Top Companies for Tech Workers
Sad. There was a day when it would have never missed such a ranking over companies like Lowes, Bank of America, and Duke Energy.
SAS prefers to hire from NC State which is ranked 66th. Maybe time to cast a wider net.
North Carolina schools in Forbes ‘America’s Top Colleges’ rankings ( for 2026): Duke University – No. 22 UNC-Chapel Hill – No. 35 Davidson College – No. 59 NC State University – No. 66 Wake Forest University – No. 98 Elon University – No... — read more
SAS and Agentic AI
Quick question for those still at SAS...I keep seeing posts on LinkedIn where SAS is doing webinars, presentations, etc. on Agentic AI. I'm genuinely curious, has SAS actually built Agentic AI capabilities into Viya, or are they just talking about... — read more
New Coke, Bud Light, Cr--ker Barrel, and Viya
The latest dust up in the news cycle about the rebranding by Cr--ker Barrel got me thinking. There are obvious similarities with the companies and products listed in the thread title. All made poor marketing decisions that alienated their core... — read more
Retirement Packages for those under 60?
Will SAS ever do a package for those under 60? Seems crazy that one could work here 35 years or more and get $100 per year to leave when someone who worked here for 10 years can get 6 figures to walk away! Doesn’t make much sense to me! Why not do... — read more
Mediocrity is an inevitable result for all long-lived companies
Many comments here indicate that, if the company had just hired the best and the brightest A-players by offering sufficient compensation, the company would be more successful today. For any company of size, though, a normal distribution of abilities... — read more
SAS hires H1Bs. H1B is America's secret we-pon. Agreed or Disagreed?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VNXwRZebJx0
Strategists!
Like measles the strategists are back. This time the infection is in RND at the VP level. They make real employees spend days in worthless solution strategy meetings. Their lackies present vision powerpoints while they go play golf with other... — read more
A Short History of AutoML
Some of you may be familiar with Thomas Dinsmore -- he writes about Analytics. SAS is frequently mentioned. His latest series, "A Short History of AutoML", is posted on his Substack page. Its an interesting walk down memory; it should generate an... — read more
What is a realistic happy ending for SAS?
"What is a realistic happy ending for SAS?" -- @1sa+1jzq0haak
Globalization department
What’s happening there? Long time employees are suddenly out sick for extended periods of time due to stress and horrible leadership. Not just one, several.Any insights?
New CFO
https://www.sas.com/en_us/news/press-releases/2025/july/matt-parson-sas-chief-financial-officer.html
What Might Have Been
Nice N&O article. May 19th; I had missed it. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article306489106.html What Goodnight’s decision to keep SAS private has meant for its workers and Cary By Brian Gordon Updated May 19, 2025 8:25 AM I’m... — read more
Health insurance trap
After my diagnosis last year, I realized I'm basically institutionalized by our benefits package. The premiums are reasonable and they actually cover my treatments, which is more than I can say for most friends' plans. It's depressing knowing I'll... — read more
Dead as a doornail here lately
Kind of like sales numbers and employee engagement overall. But don't worry folks, Aventure is coming to the rescue. To help with internal transfers and career planning and such.
SAS IPO 2027 - CIO magazine
https://www.cio.com/article/3988330/sas-enters-new-ai-era-with-ipo-on-the-horizon.html Company had to consolidate 14 financial systems, which took several years; that new system went live in January 2025. SAS also had to build other systems... — read more
SAS could have been like Informatica and been bought for $8 billion
So if you hadn't noticed, Salesforce just acquired Informatica for $8 billion. I remember when SAS used to compete with Informatica in the data management and MDM space. Remember EDI Server? Dataflux? They were good products but were left to wither... — read more