Analytics firm SAS has outlined more than £20 million of investment in UK artificial intelligence capacity, built around free access to its academic software for apprentices, students and partner institutions. The programme expands SAS Skill Builder for Students and deepens the company's work with more than 60 UK universities.
The commitment arrives as government and industry both treat AI skills as a capacity constraint on national productivity. SAS frames the announcement as foundational infrastructure: the content and tooling a working data analyst or AI engineer needs, made available at no cost to people entering the field.
We are at a critical juncture in upskilling the current workforce in AI, with many more generations in work, due to extended life expectancy and working age increase, whilst the technological advancements we are seeing are happening at unprecedented speed. These skills should be treated like other vital infrastructure, such as roads, schools and hospitals. SAS is therefore fully committed to making foundational educational content in data and AI available for free – and not just to the existing workforce, but also university students and apprentices.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall welcomed the commitment, linking it to government plans for broadening AI training outside London and the South East.
We’re on a mission to make sure British workers have the skills and confidence to thrive in the AI era. This announcement from SAS is welcome. It will help open up access to AI software and create new opportunities for communities across the country, especially in Glasgow – a city with a proud industrial heritage now at the forefront of the technological revolution. It’s yet more evidence our world-leading AI sector continues to attract investment – the kind that fuels growth and supports the UK’s national renewal.
SAS already supports AI transformation work inside major UK departments and in priority growth sectors including health, life sciences, energy and financial services.
