A system and method for controlling a drilling tool inside a wellbore makes use of simulated annealing and Bayesian optimization to determine optimum controllable drilling parameters. In some aspects, a computing device generates sampled exploration points using simulated annealing and runs a Bayesian optimization using a loss function and the exploration points to optimize at least one controllable drilling parameter to achieve a predicted value for a selected drilling parameter. In some examples, the selected drilling parameter is rate-of-penetration (ROP) and in some examples, the controllable drilling parameters include such parameters as rotational speed (RPM) and weight-on-bit (WOB). In some examples, the computing device applies the controllable drilling parameter(s) to the drilling tool to achieve the predicted value for the selected drilling parameter and provide real-time, closed-loop control and automation in drilling.