Meta Engineer: Next level of engineering in the era of Artificial Intelligence

Have you ever felt concerned about the rapid progress of AI in generating solutions?

January 16, 2026

7 min read

Term Breakdown

I have a question for fellow learners who are on the path to becoming application developers, have you ever felt concerned about the rapid progress of AI in generating solutions?

A function that once took a long time to build can now be produced by AI in less than three minutes. Whatever its shortcomings, it cannot be denied or ignored, AI development will continue, at least until humanity begins to ask itself about its place in the world.

I, too, have felt uneasy about this, wondering how far AI might take over roles. I tried listening to the words of those with more experience, yet nothing could truly ease my anxiety, until I came across the term 'Meta Engineer'.

My First Impression

That afternoon, while I was still searching for an answer to my earlier unease, I was browsing through my GitHub feed and discovered that one of my connections had created a repository titled Meta Engineering. The term was new to me, and it immediately sparked questions, prompting me to open the repository from the account named Bahattin Yunus ÇETİN.

The repository turned out to contain a comprehensive discussion of the concept of Meta Engineering, authored by its owner. The writing worked like a guide, leading me to fully realize that the term was the very answer to my search.

In essence, Bahattin Yunus ÇETİN demonstrated that the engineering paradigm is being challenged to evolve with the rise of AI. From Engineering to Meta Engineering, the responsibility of engineers is no longer merely to create solutions to problems, but to think further, ensuring that those solutions can withstand disruptions and attacks once implemented.

The author illustrated how a similar approach has already been applied by Netflix through their tool Chaos Monkey. The objective of this tool is to deliberately disrupt system operations so that the system learns to remain resilient even in the face of disturbances.

Further Origin

I wanted to explore the term 'Meta' more deeply. Everyone knows Meta as the company owned by Mark Zuckerberg, formerly known as Facebook. But how could that same term be chosen by Bahattin Yunus ÇETİN for the concept he wrote about? This question led me to conduct a small piece of research.

I discovered that the same term had already been used in the book “UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language” by Martin Fowler. In that book, Martin introduces the term “Meta-Model”, which he defines as a diagram, typically a class diagram, that specifies the concepts of a language^[1].

I understood Martin’s introduction of the Meta-Model as a way to design a system before actually building it. In other words, it is like engineering before engineering itself takes place, Engineering over Engineering.

This understanding was reinforced by the response of a YouTube streamer named Arfy Slowy, whose niche content focuses on Computer Science. When I asked him about the term 'Meta Engineer'. He explained that a meta engineer holds a position above an engineer, such that the solutions they create are then used by other engineers to produce more specific solutions. He illustrated this with the example of web frameworks like React.

Providing space in the head

Let us return to the original purpose of this small research, what is the connection with the term Meta Engineer as used by Bahattin Yunus ÇETİN? I believe the answer lies in the very nature of the word Meta, which can be interpreted as “Thinking over Thinking”, thinking for another thought.

What the term really means

Consider the phrases “Thinking over Thinking” and “Engineering over Engineering.” They indirectly define the relationship and position of humans in relation to AI.

This is precisely what Bahattin Yunus ÇETİN sought to illustrate. AI will readily take action on the “Thinking” or “Engineering” that comes after the word “over,” while we, as humans, must assume responsibility for the part that comes before “over,” which is also “Thinking/Engineering.”

How to understand it

The major conclusion I reached after reading Bahattin Yunus ÇETİN’s writing and conducting this small research is that AI and Humans are indeed destined to collaborate in driving technological evolution further and more efficiently. To reject the existence of AI is to extinguish the flame of hope that allows us to move forward. Change will inevitably feel difficult at first, but that is how civilization works, we are always changing, and we are always adapting.

Closing

Thank you to Bahattin Yunus ÇETİN who broadened my perspective on the term Meta Engineer, allowed me to write an article about the concept, and helped ensure that my writing was not biased from the definition he presented.

Thanks also to Arfy Slowy, who helped me gain a wider point of view and permitted me to quote his answer in this article.

And thank you to friends who took the time to stop by and read this piece. I truly look forward to your comments and open discussions. Regards.

Footnotes

[1]Martin Fowler, UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language, 3rd ed. (Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2004), 9.