Principal AI Researcher - Foundation Models for Enterprise

Cisco Systems; Milpitas (CA); Hybrid; USD 264,000 - 333,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco AI Research seeks a Principal AI Researcher to define the technical vision for proprietary intelligence and to steer multi-year strategy across foundation models and agentic workflows. You will bridge theory and production, guiding pre-training and alignment for Cisco’s enterprise solutions.

You will lead cross-functional teams, publish influential research, and advise executive leadership while collaborating with Cisco’s global infrastructure and security domains.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s with extensive research in AI/ML fields and 8+ years of relevant experience.
• Proven track record in leading large-scale ML research projects and pipelines.
• Experience with foundation models, pre-training, and alignment.
• Strong publication record in top AI venues with significant citations.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive Cisco’s overarching research roadmap for purpose-built LLMs.
• Lead large-scale pre-training, CPT, and reinforcement learning initiatives.
• Architect agentic frameworks and autonomous operations for enterprise IT environments.
• Advise executive leadership and translate research breakthroughs into scalable products.
• Publish high-impact research and contribute to top AI venues.

Skills

Foundation models

Pre-training pipelines

Reinforcement learning

Agentic frameworks

Executive communication

Research leadership

Publications and impact

Education

PhD in STEM or related technical field with 8+ years of research experience

Master’s degree with 12+ years of experience

Bachelor’s degree in STEM with 15+ years of experience

Tools

PyTorch

Distributed training

Job description

Cisco AI Research seeks a Principal AI Researcher to define the technical vision for proprietary intelligence and to steer multi-year strategy across foundation models and agentic workflows. You will bridge theory and production, guiding pre-training and alignment for Cisco’s enterprise solutions.

You will lead cross-functional teams, publish influential research, and advise executive leadership while collaborating with Cisco’s global infrastructure and security domains.