Steel manufacturers are currently facing major challenges: On the one hand, CO2 emissions must be significantly reduced, on the other hand, the supply of high-quality steel for e.g. wind turbines and the construction industry must also be ensured in the future. Alloying elements that are becoming scarcer and rapidly changing framework conditions pose additional challenges for the steel industry. In order to make the steel production process more effective, the team at the EAH Jena is using artificial intelligence methods to develop a SteelDesigner, which will calculate an optimal composition of steels in advance of production to achieve certain properties, such as strength. In addition to properties, costs and composition, previously neglected aspects such as security of supply, recyclability and ecological and social impacts during the life cycle are to be included in the material development. In addition, MicroGrapher is being developed to analyse existing steel alloys. Based on microstructural images and process parameters, such as information on temperature and the degree of forming, it determines microstructural parameters that are essential for the application behaviour of the steels. The project is intended to contribute to the economically and ecologically sound transformation of the domestic steel industry and thus strengthen its competitiveness.