AI Engineer vs ML Engineer vs Data Scientist 2026: Deep Role Comparison for Turkey

## 1. Historical Origins Three roles emerged in different eras solving different problems. Understanding this history reduces confusion. - Data Scientist (2010-2012): HBR sexiest job - ML Engineer (2015-2017): Production ML industrialization at Uber, Airbnb, Google - AI Engineer (2023-2024): Post-ChatGPT LLM ecosystem ## 2. Daily Work - **Data Scientist:** SQL queries, dashboards, A/B tests, statistical analysis, stakeholder presentations - **ML Engineer:** Feature engineering, model training, deployment (Docker/k8s), monitoring, A/B test infrastructure - **AI Engineer:** RAG pipelines, prompt engineering, agentic workflows, vector DB optimization, LLM cost monitoring ## 3. Tech Stack - **DS:** Python (pandas, scikit-learn), R, SQL, Tableau, statsmodels - **MLE:** PyTorch/TF, MLflow, Kubernetes, distributed training, Feature Stores - **AIE:** LangChain, LlamaIndex, Pinecone, OpenAI/Anthropic APIs, vector DBs, MCP ## 4. Turkey 2026 Salaries (Net Monthly TRY) - Junior: DS ₺50-80K / MLE ₺60-90K / AIE ₺70-100K - Senior: DS ₺120-200K / MLE ₺150-250K / AIE ₺180-280K - Staff: DS ₺180-280K / MLE ₺220-350K / AIE ₺250-400K ## 5. Transition Paths - SWE → AI Engineer: 3-6 months (fastest) - SWE → ML Engineer: 9-18 months - Data Analyst → Data Scientist: 6-12 months - DS → AI Engineer: 3-6 months - DS → MLE: 9-18 months - MLE → AIE: 3-6 months ## 6. Conclusion Three roles solve different problems. AI Engineer easiest entry in 2026, ML Engineer most stable long-term, Data Scientist best for business analytics. Most software engineers in Turkey can transition to AI Engineer in 3-6 months.