‘Global decisions made in Marlow’: How SAS is shaping the workforce of tomorrow

As governments and industries worldwide grapple with the rise of artificial intelligence, conversations guiding that future are taking place right on our doorstep.

SAS, one of the world’s leading data and AI companies, operates its Northern European headquarters from the 110-acre Wittington Estate in Henley Road near Marlow.

Overlooking the River Thames, the site is home to hundreds of employees and directs work across the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia.

Dr Iain Brown, the company’s European head of data science, said Marlow’s influence is far greater than its location might suggest.

“Although Marlow is out of the way, it’s not obviously the most tech-savvy place in the world,” he told the Advertiser.

“But there are some really big decisions being made out of the Marlow office to impact globally how data and AI is being used.”

Dr Iain Brown says AI will 'enrich' the jobs of the future

Founded in the 1970s by Dr Jim Goodnight at North Carolina State University, SAS grew out of research into agricultural efficiency – analysing how to make the best use of land.

Its academic roots continue to shape the company’s close ties to education, with training and skills programmes now a central part of its mission.

That mission continues as part of a programme to train 7.5million UK workers in artificial intelligence tools of the future, announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in June.

SAS was chosen as a founding partner, pledging to provide training free of charge. Much of that work, the company says, will be coordinated from Marlow.

“We’re passionate about giving back,” Dr Brown said. “AI is everywhere at the moment, and we all need to be AI literate.”

SAS is taking that message into classrooms as well as boardrooms.

Wycombe MP Emma Reynolds and Roderick Crawford, senior vice president for SAS Northern Europe

The firm partners with schools such as nearby Danesfield Primary, running science workshops and even maintaining beehives on its estate to engage pupils with science.

“I think it’s incredibly important that even at primary school level we’re teaching the next generations about AI and data,” Dr Brown said.

“There’s a lot of talk about AI displacing jobs, but actually it will enrich jobs too.

“New roles like prompt engineering didn’t exist a decade ago.”

SAS’ offices were visited by Wycombe MP Emma Reynolds in August, who reflected on ‘the global impact of the work being done’.

Prompt engineering is the skill of asking questions to an AI, to generate the appropriate response.

'Humans should always be a part of the process' in AI use says Dr Brown

SAS software is used by major banks to detect fraud and risk, and by governments to support decisions in areas including taxation, benefits, and healthcare.

“These are the types of applications that SAS is being used for daily,” Dr Brown said.

“So, even though most people don't know who SAS are, you will be interacting with us daily.”

The company reinvests 25 per cent of revenue into research and development and has signed up to the European Union’s AI Act Pact.

“These tools must be robust, validated, and governed,” Dr Brown said. “We believe humans should always be part of the process.

“AI should be an augmentation, an enhancement of what people do, not a replacement.”