diff --git a/app/controllers/autocomplete_controller.rb b/app/controllers/autocomplete_controller.rb
index 370daf8c54304e8e58b40c76c068bfa38e32bbbc..8f453f0fb6503c3a5131ae2bed1da59c922ad01d 100644
--- a/app/controllers/autocomplete_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/autocomplete_controller.rb
@@ -7,15 +7,15 @@ class AutocompleteController < ApplicationController
     :users, :award_emojis, :merge_request_target_branches, :merge_request_source_branches
   ]
   before_action :check_search_rate_limit!, only: :projects
-  before_action :check_autocomplete_users_rate_limit!, only: :users
+  before_action :check_autocomplete_users_rate_limit!, only: [:users, :special_users]
 
-  feature_category :user_profile, [:users, :user]
+  feature_category :user_profile, [:users, :user, :special_users]
   feature_category :groups_and_projects, [:projects]
   feature_category :team_planning, [:award_emojis]
   feature_category :code_review_workflow, [:merge_request_target_branches, :merge_request_source_branches]
   feature_category :continuous_delivery, [:deploy_keys_with_owners]
 
-  urgency :low, [:merge_request_target_branches, :merge_request_source_branches, :deploy_keys_with_owners, :users]
+  urgency :low, [:merge_request_target_branches, :merge_request_source_branches, :deploy_keys_with_owners, :users, :special_users]
   urgency :low, [:award_emojis]
   urgency :medium, [:projects]
 
@@ -44,6 +44,27 @@ def users
     render json: presented_users
   end
 
+  # POC: Special users endpoint for @@ autocomplete
+  # Returns users filtered by access level (maintainer and above)
+  def special_users
+    group = Autocomplete::GroupFinder
+      .new(current_user, project, params)
+      .execute
+
+    users = Autocomplete::UsersFinder
+      .new(params: params, current_user: current_user, project: project, group: group)
+      .execute
+
+    # Filter users based on access level
+    filtered_users = filter_special_users(users)
+
+    presented_users = UserSerializer
+                        .new(params.merge({ current_user: current_user }))
+                        .represent(filtered_users, project: project)
+
+    render json: presented_users
+  end
+
   def user
     user = UserFinder.new(params[:id]).find_by_id!
 
@@ -121,6 +142,32 @@ def check_autocomplete_users_rate_limit!
       check_rate_limit!(:autocomplete_users_unauthenticated, scope: request.ip)
     end
   end
+
+  # POC: Filter users by access level (maintainer and above)
+  # In a production implementation, this could be:
+  # - Moved to a separate service class
+  # - Made configurable via params (e.g., minimum_access_level)
+  # - Optimized with database queries instead of filtering in memory
+  def filter_special_users(users)
+    return users unless project || params[:group_id]
+
+    users.select do |user|
+      if project
+        # Check project membership
+        member = project.team.member(user)
+        member && member.access_level >= Gitlab::Access::MAINTAINER
+      elsif params[:group_id]
+        # Check group membership
+        group = Group.find_by_id(params[:group_id])
+        next false unless group
+
+        member = group.members.find_by(user_id: user.id)
+        member && member.access_level >= Gitlab::Access::MAINTAINER
+      else
+        false
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end
 
 AutocompleteController.prepend_mod_with('AutocompleteController')
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index c410d349eb493dc38227a3bcd65cc51ec9b2902d..437d2fed837e7016e671cada6e482e70fd0bcc7d 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@
     scope path: '-' do
       # Autocomplete
       get '/autocomplete/users' => 'autocomplete#users'
+      get '/autocomplete/special_users' => 'autocomplete#special_users'
       get '/autocomplete/users/:id' => 'autocomplete#user'
       get '/autocomplete/projects' => 'autocomplete#projects'
       get '/autocomplete/award_emojis' => 'autocomplete#award_emojis'