AI Researcher II (Intern) - United States
About The Position
This role is for an AI Researcher II (Intern) position at Cisco, focusing on frontier AI research. The team, Foundation AI, aims to advance the state of AI by developing purpose-built models, agentic systems, new algorithms, optimization methods, and scalable data processing techniques to solve real-world problems. The research areas include new model architectures, pre-training and post-training methods, inference optimization, evaluation techniques, and data pipelines. The goal is to advance AI within Cisco and contribute to the broader AI community. The intern will work on the research, development, and deployment of advanced AI systems, with a focus on large language models, agentic AI, multimodal learning, and enterprise-scale AI applications. They will translate frontier research into practical systems by designing experiments, developing new methods, and turning research insights into impactful, scalable AI solutions. Specific interests include algorithm design for pre-training and post-training, scalable data curation, and reliable AI infrastructure. The role involves driving improvements to training algorithms, curating and optimizing data at scale, and designing infrastructure for purpose-built models. A strong emphasis is placed on publishing research and contributing to the AI community through scientific articles, technical blog posts, and open-source contributions.
Requirements
- Currently enrolled in 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.
- 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
Nice To Haves
- 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
Responsibilities
- 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.
Benefits
- medical, dental and vision insurance
- a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
- paid parental leave
- short and long-term disability coverage
- basic life insurance
- grants of Cisco restricted stock units
- 10 paid holidays per full calendar year
- 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday
- paid year-end holiday shutdown
- 4 paid days off for personal wellness
- 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year (non-exempt employees)
- flexible vacation time off program (exempt employees)
- 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
- 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
- annual bonuses (non-sales roles)
- performance-based incentive pay (sales roles)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Intern
Education Level
Associate degree
