A Life Engineered How Engineers Break Into The Top 1% | Michael Novati
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Dec 8, 2025 
Michael Novati, a Principal Engineer at Meta and founder of Formation, shares his inspiring journey from intern to E7 in just six years. He discusses the concept of the 'coding machine' and its limitations, highlighting the challenge of advancing in large organizations. Michael also dives into the transformative impact of AI on engineering productivity and education, advocating for apprenticeships as a remedy for traditional CS education. He offers practical advice for bootcamp graduates on finding their path in tech.
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Use Co-op Cycles To Build Competence
- Pursue cooperative school-work cycles like Waterloo's co-op model to graduate with multiple internships and real experience.
- Use alternating internships to arrive at the job market with mid-level competence rather than junior uncertainty.
Get Experience Through Related Roles
- If you're a bootcamp grad, take any tech role that leverages your prior strengths and transition internally into engineering.
- Or start a small paying project or company to learn taste and judgment from real customer feedback.
AI Widens The Skill Divide
- AI creates a K-shaped outcome: senior engineers with taste amplify output massively while juniors without judgment lag.
- Prompting and orchestration skills will separate high performers from those who merely follow tooling.