The principle of meritocracy is one of the fundamental public personnel management policies that ensures the reliable protection of public components and information. This successful development of the meritocracy principle in Turkish public administration has been examined in connection with the bureaucratic modernization process, and the potential impacts of digitalization and artificial intelligence applications on the meritocracy system have been evaluated. The study first addresses the reforms in the late Ottoman period aimed at establishing a regulated structure for public offices, erasing civil servant records, and training educated public officials. Furthermore, it examines the constitutional right to enter public service in the Republican era, the explanation of the Civil Servants Law No. 788 and the State Civil Servants Law No. 657, and the determination of career and merit strategies. The study notes that despite the explicit inclusion of the meritocracy principle in legislation, issues such as clericalism, political patronage, the scope of exceptional positions, objectivity of data points, and information related to on-the-job success and performance evaluation continue to be addressed. Digitalization and AI-supported personnel management applications offer significant opportunities in terms of standardization, traceability, data planning, and transparency. However, algorithmic bias, data protection, explainability, and accountability issues create new risk areas. Consequently, digital tools are established as reliable decision support tools with effective problem-solving and auditable operation, viewed and clearly demonstrated as decision distribution tools replacing human oversight.