Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the megatrends of this century and the largest disruption today for its pervasiveness in any industrial field for applications and needed services even though, conventional digital technologies continue to occupy a key role being further reinforced by AI and Machine Learning (ML). The peculiarities of the steel sector offer to AI opportunities in terms of e.g. flexibility, interoperability and adaptability of AI-based applications and modelling tasks, automatic and autonomous operations, increase of human operators’ capabilities, self-organization for complex tasks. On the other hand, the steel sector also faces big challenges connected, for example to the present difficult economic contingency, which affects long-term investments, and a generational turnover for the incoming decade.

The ESTEP Focus Group Smart  Factory are pleased to announce a two-days’ workshop on AI-4 Steel, which will take place from Wednesday 15 to Thursday 16 April 2026 in Leoben, Austria. An optional plant visit of the voestalpine Donawitz site will take place on 16 April in the afternoon.

The event location: Live Congress, Hauptplatz 1, 8700 Leoben, Austria

The workshop aims at highlighting trends, opportunities and challenges connected to AI-based solutions in the steel sector by:

•        Investigating the demands of the sector while broadening the view from single topic to the whole picture.

•        Analyzing costs and added value of AI use in the steel field, by identifying barriers and enablers to exploit their full potential.

•        Supporting a realistic approach to AI and ML in terms of expectations, complexity, training, skills, investments.

The Focus Group Smart Factory invites any stakeholder to the submission of scientific contributions to:

•        provide examples of best practices or market/prototypal solutions

•        evaluate new frontiers and potential applications of AI in steel sector.

Strategy, policy and enablers

•        Barriers, enablers and policy actions for AI deployment in the steel industry

•        Data infrastructure, standardization and cyber-security for AI implementation in the steel sector.

AI for ironmaking, steelmaking and downstream processing

•        AI-based solutions for modelling, monitoring, optimization and control of iron- and steelmaking processes.

•        AI for downstream processing and product quality

•        Hybrid modelling and digital twins across the steel value chain

Human-centered, safe and skilled workplaces

•        AI for health, safety and human-centered work in steel plants

•        AI-supported training, upskilling and knowledge management

Generative, agentic and advanced AI: new frontiers

•        Generative and agentic AI in the value chain

•        Advanced AI, foundation models and agentic control in the steel industry

Cross-cutting topics

•        AI for decarbonization, resource efficiency and circularity

•        Industrial case studies, demonstrators and scale-up of AI in steel plants

The workshop is open to other AI applications/solutions from the metal sector to share experiences and good practices.

Authors wishing to present a contribution are asked to prepare maximum 2 pages abstract including figures and references. In addition, please indicate the topic(s) for which you are submitting.
The abstract needs to be submitted by 5 March 2026 to ESTEP by e-mail: D.Snaet@estep.eu.

More information can be found in the flyer below

DEADLINES: 
Abstract submission: 5 March 2026 
Abstract selection: 13 March 2026

Registration will open on 17 March 2026 

The complete programme will be published once call for abstracts is finished.

Tentative programme: 
15 April : Conference day 1 from 9:00 - 17:00 + conference dinner
16 April : Conference day 2 from 9:00 - 13:00 + optinal plant visit voestalpine Donawitz (14:00 - 17:00)

The optional visit of the voestalpine site - Donawitz will focus on the transformation in metallurgy (from BF to EAF steelmaking). A bus will be foreseen for the tour plant visit. 

Registration will open on 17 March 2026. 

Various hotels in the city of Leoben are listed on the available link here 

Some rooms in the Asia Hotel have been reserved until 23 March 2026. Please mention "AI-4-Steel" while booking.  

Sponsorship opportunities are still welcome. More details can be found on the flyer

In case you need further information, please contact ESTEP via e-mail: D.Snaet@estep.eu