For the very first time in the steel industry, a substantial improvement of surface quality of automotive exposed grades has been achieved by precise process control through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies. The main innovation is to not only predict surface quality, but to avoid formation of surface defects in the first place. Dynamic process optimization for each casting sequence, each heat, each slab is implemented based on methods from Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The implementation and validation in production has been completed successfully at one of the most advanced integrated flat steel manufacturers in Europe – ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt. By Dr. Ralf-Peter Bösler, Dr. Falk-Florian Henrich, Dr. Otmar Jannasch, and Dr. Jan Daldrop.