Please note this posting is to advertise potential job opportunities. This exact role may not be open today but could open in the near future. When you apply, a Cisco representative may contact you directly if a relevant position opens.
This role may be eligible for remote work in the United States depending on business needs and hiring manager approval.
Meet the Team
At Foundation AI, we are leading frontier AI research across Cisco. Our mission is to advance the state of AI. We translate that research into purpose-built models, agentic systems, new algorithms, optimization methods, and scalable data processing techniques that solve real-world problems at scale.
We explore new model architectures, pre-training and post-training methods, inference optimization, evaluation techniques, and data pipelines. Together, we are advancing AI at Cisco and for the broader AI community!
Your Impact
As an AI Researcher, you will work on the research, development, and deployment of advanced AI systems. Your focus will span large language models, agentic AI, multimodal learning, and enterprise-scale AI applications. We are looking for researchers who will help translate frontier research into practical systems by designing experiments, developing new methods, and turning research insights into impactful, scalable AI solutions.
We are particularly interested in researchers with deep expertise in algorithm design for pre-training and post-training, scalable data curation, and reliable AI infrastructure. You will drive improvements to training algorithms, curate and optimize data at scale, and design infrastructure needed to train purpose-built models that can compete with frontier models on specific tasks aligned with Cisco's business priorities and Foundation AI's research agenda.
We place a strong emphasis on publishing research and contributing meaningfully to the AI community. In this role, you will write scientific articles for top-tier machine learning and AI conferences, publish technical blog posts, and contribute to the open-source AI community!
In this role, you will:
Develop scalable data curation and processing methods that improve model training and task-specific performance.
Build production-ready AI systems using strong software engineering practices.
Optimize large language models and agentic systems for enterprise and security-focused use cases.
Minimum Qualifications
Currently enrolled in one of the following:
-An undergraduate degree program (Associate's or Bachelor's) with 2 years of work experience; or
-A Master’s degree program with 0 years of work experience.
-Qualifying education and work experience should be in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Engineering or a related field. or a related field or a related field.
-Expected to continue enrollment in degree program following completion of the internship.
Strong experience with Python, PyTorch, production-grade software engineering practices, and common AI/ML libraries
Experience with large language models, model training, fine-tuning, evaluation, inference, and optimization
Strong understanding of data pipelines, model experimentation, and scalable AI system design
Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex research and engineering concepts to cross-functional partners
Preferred Qualifications
Experience designing scalable data curation methods and building reliable infrastructure for large-scale model training, evaluation, inference, and deployment
Experience deploying high-performance inference engines such as vLLM, NVIDIA Triton, or TorchServe, and working with cloud-native deployment, Docker, Kubernetes, MLOps pipelines, and major cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure
Demonstrated history of publishing research in top-tier AI/ML conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or ACL, or contributing to significant open-source AI projects
Experience designing and scaling agentic AI workflows, multi-agent frameworks, and autonomous AI systems
Familiarity with cybersecurity principles, AI systems for security-focused use cases, safety, and robust machine learning
At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.
Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.
We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.
Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.
U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.
U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:
10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees
Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next
Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.
Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:
.75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;
1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;
1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and
Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.
For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.
The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:
New York City Metro Area:
$44,000.00 - $185,000.00Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$44,000.00 - $185,000.00* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.
** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.
Skills Required
- Currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program with at least 2 years of work experience, or enrolled in a Master's degree program with 0 years of work experience
- Degree program and qualifying experience in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or a related field
- Expected to continue enrollment in the degree program after completing the internship
- Strong experience with Python, PyTorch, production-grade software engineering practices, and common AI/ML libraries
- Experience with large language models, model training, fine-tuning, evaluation, inference, and optimization
- Strong understanding of data pipelines, model experimentation, and scalable AI system design
- Strong communication skills and ability to explain complex research and engineering concepts to cross-functional partners
- Experience designing scalable data curation methods and reliable infrastructure for large-scale model training, evaluation, inference, and deployment
- Experience deploying vLLM, NVIDIA Triton, or TorchServe and working with cloud-native deployment, Docker, Kubernetes, MLOps pipelines, AWS, GCP, or Azure
- Research publications in top-tier AI/ML conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or ACL, or significant open-source AI contributions
- Experience designing and scaling agentic AI workflows, multi-agent frameworks, and autonomous AI systems
- Familiarity with cybersecurity principles, security-focused AI systems, safety, and robust machine learning
Cisco Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Cisco and has not been reviewed or approved by Cisco.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as robust with multiple plan options and access to onsite/virtual LifeConnections Health Centers on major campuses. Company materials also highlight mental-health resources and comprehensive preventive care, supporting strong core medical benefits.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time away includes company‑wide recharge days, a paid birthday, a year‑end shutdown, and paid Critical Time Off for emergencies. Paid volunteer days further expand opportunities to step away and recharge.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies include a global minimum for paid parental leave for primary caregivers, caregiving concierge services, and on‑site children’s learning centers in select locations. In the U.S., family‑building support is consolidated under Carrot with a defined lifetime maximum, indicating structured assistance across fertility, preservation, adoption, and surrogacy.
Cisco Insights
What We Do
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections--whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible--providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time. Cisco was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Since the company's inception, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. Today, with more than 71,000 employees worldwide, this tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products and solutions in the company's core development areas of routing and switching, as well as in advanced technologies such as home networking, IP telephony, optical networking, security, storage area networking, and wireless technology. In addition to its products, Cisco provides a broad range of service offerings, including technical support and advanced services. Cisco sells its products and services, both directly through its own sales force as well as through its channel partners, to large enterprises, commercial businesses, service providers, and consumers.
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