you do not have to use the WiFi if it is not required for the project
the ESP32 has plenty of other functionality which is useful for engineering project, e.g. specify facilities depends of specific ESP32 series
- hardware UARTs, I2s, SPIs, ADCs, DACs, etc
- CANbus interface - Two-Wire Automotive Interface (TWAI)
- Pulse Counter (PCNT)
- Remote Control Transceiver (RMT) - designed as a infrared transceiver I use it to generate complex pulse sequences
other modern 32bit microcontrollers support similar functionality, e.g. STM32, RP2040, etc