(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
When anyone mentions the “steel industry” it generally means a lot of things: manufacturers, foundries, distributors, rollers, fabricators. All of these companies have different technology needs but, because they’re buying and selling a lot to each other, oftentimes those technologies overlap.
AI, meanwhile, is starting to make a difference in this industry and its impact is growing. It’s estimated that by 2027 50% of business decisions will be augmented or automated by AI agents, with as much as 50% of operations augmented by AI by 2030. The steel industry employs hundreds of thousands of workers and generates more than $200 billion towards annual GDP. What this industry does with AI will not go unnoticed.
So here’s what I’m noticing.
IoT Monitoring
Monitizer, which is made by the Norican Group, is an Internet of Things platform that monitors manufacturing, particularly sand systems. It’s AI technology keeps track of sand melt and mold processes and allows operators to address issues before they impact quality.
According to one of their customers, Michigan-based foundry Grede, the platform helps them better understand how to reduce costs, defects, and improve on downtime, which ultimately improves the overall efficiency of their operations.
The company says that Monitizer’s real-time data and analytics, gives them “a comprehensive solution for both sand and equipment optimization,” with one of their foundries cutting scrap by 50% by just by optimizing sand inclusions.
“Also, we’re able to look from plant to plant and see variations but then having customization allows us to see details specific to that piece of equipment,” one manager said.
Recycling Robot
It’s called “Tom” and it’s made by Max-AI. At least, that’s what one customer calls it.
Max-AI develops artificial intelligence and robotic systems for the recycling and resource recovery industries and according to its website, its proprietary technology combines computer vision and deep learning to identify, sort, and recover materials with high precision and consistency. The company says that it has installed hundreds of robotic sorters worldwide and “continues to expand the frontiers of intelligent recycling automation.”
Tom picks out aluminum cans and printed circuit boards out of their scrap stream. The AI uses a laser to see a shape and color, pull it out and sort it.
“The robot can work through there the whole shift without taking a break,” said one customer. “It increases the efficiency a bunch. It allows the plant supervisors to utilize their personnel in more beneficial ways.”
An AI Glove
The Ironhand Glove, uses sensors, actuators, and tendons comparable to human nerves, muscles, and tendons, yet increases the wearer’s power and reduces fatigue, such as the fatigue that sets in soon after a worker begins to continuously grip a tool. The most common use of the Ironhand glove is for manual grinding, but it’s also used for press functions in which the workers lift castings and perform other repetitive tasks.
Once customer, Waupaca Foundry, has been putting the device to use in various areas of its operations.
“The Ironhand works well for holding onto air tools for an extended period of time,” said one of their grinding operators.
“It makes a big difference because the glove takes over and does most of the work for you,” said another. “It also took quite a bit of the vibration out of my arm.”
Robotic Dog
Made by robotics leader Boston Dynamics, this robot — called Spot — is able to do things like inspect blast furnace areas and monitor high-heat and gas heavy zones while minimizing workers’ exposure and mitigating risks. Spot moves autonomously and can access tight areas that are difficult for convectional robots to access. The robot can also perform precise inspections using sensors.
One large Korean steel manufacturer deployed multiple Spot units equipped with thermal imaging cameras, gas detection sensors, and AI vision systems to perform inspection, monitoring, and safety patrol tasks across blast furnace, Basic Oxygen Furnace converter, and rolling mill environments that had been served by human inspectors working in high-heat, high-risk conditions.
Revenue Generation
Straight out of Stanford and backed by a few big name investors, Emanate is a startup that’s aiming to help companies in the steel and related industries generate revenues faster using AI.
Emanate’s platform brings together accounts, emails, follow-ups, reporting and then identifies prospects, build pipelines, tracks engagement (and re-engages) and communicates with prospects and customers.
“Most AI in the enterprise is sold for cost-cutting. Emanate stood out by building AI that drives top line growth, and focusing on a massive but overlooked industrial materials market that is the backbone of the modern economy,” says Jonathan Lai, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of the startup’s first investors.
Advanced ERP
C3AI is an enterprise AI platform that connects with a company’s existing systems and brings all of the data together, creating a unified model of the business and applies AI to improve demand forecasting, optimize inventory levels, assist with production scheduling, predict equipment failures and more.
“One of the things we’re focusing on is demand forecasting and how can we balance our demand for our materials and predict better?” said Gaurav Malhotra, Department Manager, AI and Emerging Technology at Nucor Steel, a C3 AI customer. “Inventory optimization, which helps us right-size our working capital and then helps us feed our integrated supply chain.”
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In addition to the technologies above, larger brands in the industry are investing heavily in AI-based solutions to increase productivity and improve margins.
Customer Portals
For example, Kloeckner Metals USA has developed Kloeckner Connect, a cloud-based digital AI platform that allows customers — who set up a Kloeckner Connect account — to view live inventory availability, place orders 24/7, track order status, manage inventory through a single portal. The company says that the system was created for inventory optimization and improves supply chain visibility and forecasting.
AI Reasoning
Cleveland-Cliffs, a flat-rolled steel producer and supplier of iron ore pellets headquartered in Cleveland, has recently partnered with database firm Palantir to deploy advanced AI solutions across its production planning, order entry, inventory management, and operational coordination functions to better integrate data, anticipate constraints, and coordinate activities across its facilities in real time. Using Palantir’s AI technologies, Cleveland-Cliffs is able to bridge abstract AI reasoning with real-time, ground-level actions, such as optimizing supply chain logistics or preventing equipment failures.
“This initiative will ultimately move us from human-experience-driven planning toward a new and enhanced AI-assisted, decision-making system that scales with the complexity of our operations,” said the company’s CEO Laurenco Goncalves.
Agents
In India, Tata Steel is leveraging Google Cloud to deploy more than 300 specialized AI agents across its manufacturing, supply chain, HR, finance, procurement, and customer service areas. Their internal low-code platform enables employees who are not data scientists — such as software developers and frontline managers — to build, test, and deploy their own specialized AI agents. By integrating AI directly into industrial workflows, the company has shifted from traditional monitoring to proactive, real-time intervention. The company is also using agentic AI to eliminate administrative bottlenecks.
“This isn’t just about new tools; it’s about a continuous engine of execution that enables our people to act on insights instantly,” said Jayanta Banerjee, the company’s Chief Information Officer. “From predicting asset maintenance to reducing customer response times, we are using agentic AI to simplify the most complex parts of our business and drive execution at an entirely new scale.” –
Analytics
Emsteel, a massive foundry that serves over 70 international markets, has deployed Microsoft Fabric, a cloud-based AI analytics platform that integrates data engineering, data warehousing and business intelligence tools into a unified environment. Emsteel implemented the platform to consolidate data sources, automate workflows and reduce reliance on manual reporting.
“These tools and services are contextualizing and connecting operational data to business decision-making, providing predictive insights and process optimization,” said the company’s CTO.
