Quantum information science seeks to exploit the collective behavior of a large system to enable tasks that are impossible (or less possible!) with classical resources alone. While this burgeoning field encompasses a variety of goals, ranging from metrology to computing, most of them rely on the preparation and control of many identical particles or qubits. Meeting this need is a defining challenge of the field. There are several exciting platforms that are targeting these capabilities, with impressive progress. I will focus on one such platform — optically-trapped neutral atoms. In this direction, we have been developing a new suite of tools, based on the use of more exotic atomic species, new trapping architectures, and new control methods. I will provide an overview of these developments and a few specific examples of our recent results, including the use of atoms as indistinguishable bosons for sampling problems, a new kind of atomic clock, and a different kind of qubit.