SAS just cut 300 jobs. The company that taught every enterprise to analyze data is now being eaten by the data it created.

SAS Institute cut 300 positions last week.

The company that invented enterprise analytics. The tool every Fortune 100 company has used for decades. Now shedding jobs to fund its AI pivot.

Here is what SAS did not say in its statement: how fast the overall business is growing.

In 2023, growth was 8%. In 2024, they stopped disclosing it entirely. Meanwhile Viya grew 20% and cloud services grew 22%. When your AI platform accelerates but you hide the total number, the core is contracting.

SAS committed $1 billion to AI in 2023. They have 12,000 employees down from a peak that made them the 5th largest employer in Wake County. They are now 9th. The headcount has been shrinking for years through attrition and cuts while the company insists everything is fine.

90% of Fortune 100 companies still run on SAS. That means 450 of the world's largest enterprises have a vendor that is restructuring in real time, not telling them how fast the core is growing, and preparing for a CEO succession after 50 years.

If your analytics stack runs on SAS, your vendor is no longer an analytics company. It is a company trying to become an AI company before the old business disappears.

Audit your SAS contracts now. Check what happens to support SLAs when the teams that maintain your implementations get cut. And start evaluating your exit path before your vendor's transformation becomes your disruption.

SOURCE: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article316281262.html
VERIFIED: News & Observer (June 26), WRAL (June 25), SAS 2025 Annual Report
SIGNAL: The company that defined enterprise analytics for 50 years is cutting jobs and hiding growth rates. Every enterprise running on SAS needs to evaluate vendor risk today.