SAS AI Navigator
by SAS
SaaS AI governance inventory for models, agents and use cases, sold through Microsoft Marketplace
SAS AI Navigator is a standalone SaaS governance tool that builds a company-wide inventory of AI use cases and the models and agents behind them, then checks each against internal policies and external regulations. It is built for AI, data, compliance and risk leaders who need audit-ready oversight across in-house and third-party AI, SAS or not.
SAS announced AI Navigator at SAS Innovate on April 28, 2026 and launched it on Microsoft Marketplace in early October 2026 as a standalone SaaS product, so customers do not need a SAS Viya deployment to use it. The tool registers AI use cases, such as a customer-facing chatbot, and links each one to the model or agent underneath it, whether that is an LLM like Claude or Microsoft Copilot, an open-source model, a SAS model or an internally built agent. Governance applies at both levels: the business use case and the technology behind it. Teams import internal policies and external regulations or frameworks, and partner policy packs from Protiviti and Asenion supply ready-made compliance guidelines, risk classifications and question sets. The product raises gap alerts for missing documentation and regulatory risks, runs step-by-step assessment workflows with submit-and-approve steps and recorded decision rationale, tracks ownership, keeps an audit trail, publishes an internal hub of approved and prohibited AI tools, and gives executives a no-code dashboard. It covers the lifecycle from experimentation through deployment to retirement and can ingest metadata from other tools. Within SAS's portfolio it sits above SAS Model Manager and SAS Model Risk Manager as the executive-level registry. SAS says the idea grew out of an internal problem, five business units using five different models for RFP responses. Erasmus University Medical Centre tested it in a healthcare setting. New and existing SAS customers get six months of free access; subscription pricing is not published.
A chief risk, compliance or AI governance officer at a regulated enterprise (bank, insurer, health system, public sector) who must answer which AI systems are in use and whether each meets policy.
One audit-ready register of every AI use case, model and agent, internal or vendor-supplied, with policy gaps flagged automatically.
At a Glance
- Category
- Governance & Security
- Pricing
- Subscription, Contact for pricing
- Target Market
- Chief Risk Officers, Compliance Teams, CIOs, AI Governance Leads, Data Leaders
- Deployment
- Cloud-only
Key Features
- ✓Central AI registry
A single hub for models (including generative AI and LLMs), agents and use cases, whether built in-house or bought from vendors.
- ✓Use-case-level governance
Policies attach to the business use case as well as the underlying model or agent, matching how regulators frame AI risk.
- ✓Partner policy packs
Protiviti and Asenion packs supply pre-built compliance guidelines, risk classifications and question sets, shortening setup for regulated teams.
- ✓Gap alerts
Flags missing documentation and priority regulatory risks so governance teams know which use cases need attention first.
- ✓Structured assessment workflow
Step-by-step policy assessments with submit-and-approve steps and recorded decision rationale create defensible evidence for reviews.
- ✓Approved-tools hub
An internal page showing employees which AI tools are approved or prohibited, aimed directly at shadow AI.
- ✓Executive dashboard and audit trail
No-code reporting for leadership plus an audit trail and evidence-based reports for internal and regulatory reviews.
Capabilities
Use Cases
- •Shadow AI inventory
A bank catalogues every AI tool and agent in use across business units and publishes which ones staff may use.
- •Chatbot governance
A customer-facing chatbot use case is assessed against policy together with its underlying Claude or Copilot model, with ownership recorded.
- •Regulatory audit preparation
A compliance team uses partner policy packs and assessment workflows to produce documented evidence before an external AI review.
- •Model consolidation
Like SAS's own RFP case, an organisation spots several units using different models for one task and standardises on a champion and challenger.
- •Clinical AI oversight
A hospital tracks AI use cases from experimentation to retirement, as Erasmus MC tested in a highly regulated healthcare setting.
Ideal For
Best For
- ✓Building a first enterprise-wide AI inventory to rein in shadow AI
- ✓Mapping AI use cases to internal policies and external regulations for audit readiness
- ✓Governing vendor AI (Claude, Microsoft Copilot) alongside in-house and SAS models in one register
- ✓Regulated organisations in finance, healthcare and the public sector that buy through Microsoft Azure
- ✓Existing SAS Model Manager or Model Risk Manager customers who need an executive-level view on top
Not Ideal For
- ✗Teams that need runtime enforcement or blocking of agent actions; the product is a governance register and assessment workflow, with no documented runtime controls
- ✗Organisations that procure outside Microsoft Marketplace or want published subscription pricing before a trial ends
- ✗Buyers who want peer reviews before committing: no G2, Capterra or independent analyst evaluation of the product was found as of October 9, 2026
Deployment
Market Analysis
Pros
- ✓Vendor-neutral inventory covering LLMs, agents, open-source and SAS models
- ✓Six months free and no implementation cost lowers the cost of a first AI inventory
- ✓Backed by SAS's existing model risk management portfolio and long presence in regulated industries
- ✓Partner policy packs give compliance teams a starting framework instead of a blank form
Cons
- ✗Governance and documentation only, with no documented runtime monitoring or enforcement of agent behaviour
- ✗Subscription price after the free period is unpublished, and distribution is tied to Microsoft Marketplace
- ✗Brand new: launched October 2026 with one named early tester and no independent reviews or analyst evaluations yet
- ✗Coverage does not describe automated discovery, so the inventory may rely on teams registering use cases and importing metadata
Pricing
SAS AI Navigator (Microsoft Marketplace)
Contact for pricing
- ✓Six months free for new and existing SAS customers
- ✓No implementation cost
- ✓Partner policy packs sold separately
SAS offers six months of free access through Microsoft Marketplace and states there is no implementation cost, but no subscription price is published. Partner policy packs from Protiviti and Asenion require contacting SAS. Purchasing runs through Microsoft Marketplace, which can draw on existing Azure commitments.
Security & Compliance
Sources
This page was written from 6 sources, 4 on domains other than sas.com.
- 1.sas.com — ai navigatorvendor
- 2.sas.com — ai navigatorvendor
- 3.itbrief.co.uk — sas launches ai navigator for enterprise governance
- 4.itbrief.co.uk — sas launches ai navigator for governance oversight
- 5.channelbuzz.ca — the buzz sas innovate 2026 special viya opens to ai agents n
- 6.lemondeinformatique.fr — lire sas met la gouvernance ia au centre de sa strategie age
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