A new two-parameter extended exponential lifetime distribution with an increasing failure rate called the Poisson–exponential (PE) model was explored. In the reliability experiments, an adaptive progressively Type-II hybrid censoring strategy is presented to improve the statistical analysis efficiency and reduce the entire test duration on a life-testing experiment. To benefit from this mechanism, this paper sought to infer the unknown parameters, as well as the reliability and failure rate function of the PE distribution using both the likelihood and product of spacings estimation procedures as a conventional view. For each unknown parameter, from both classical approaches, an approximate confidence interval based on Fisher’s information was also created. Additionally, in the Bayesian paradigm, the given classical approaches were extended to Bayes’ continuous theorem to develop the Bayes (or credible interval) estimates of the same unknown quantities. Employing the squared error loss, the Bayesian inference was developed based on independent gamma assumptions. Because of the complex nature of the posterior density, the Markov chain with the Monte Carlo methodology was used to obtain data from the whole conditional distributions and, therefore, evaluate the acquired Bayes point/interval estimates. Via extensive numerical comparisons, the performance of the estimates provided was evaluated with respect to various criteria. Among different competing progressive mechanisms, using four optimality criteria, the best censoring was suggested. Two real chemical engineering datasets were also analyzed to highlight the applicability of the acquired point and interval estimators in an actual practical scenario.