Microbial systems are central to health, sustainability, and biomanufacturing, yet developing high-performing, scalable strains remains a major challenge. Our lab has created an automated, high-throughput experimentation platform that integrates continuous cultivation, data capture, real-time analysis, and process control to enable evolutionary engineering of microbes through adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE). ALE uses growth selection under defined pressures to generate robust strains for both industrial and biomedical applications, and its strain-agnostic nature makes it broadly applicable. It can also be paired with whole-genome sequencing to identify beneficial mutations. This capability allows us to probe fundamental biology—such as evolutionary constraints and genotype–phenotype relationships—while addressing the urgent need for sustainable bioprocesses to power the circular bioeconomy. In this seminar, I will present the platform’s capabilities, highlight industrial applications, and discuss future directions, including integration with AI for self-driving experimentation and the ability to control mutations through molecular biology tools and population diversity strategies. I will also explore opportunities for collaboration and training across the bioengineering community.