AI Research Scientist PhD Intern United States

The application window is expected to close on: 06/23/2026

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received .

Applications are accepted until 6/23/2026.

This role may be eligible for remote work in the United States depending on business needs and hiring manager approval.

Meet the Team

Join a collaborative team of researchers and engineers dedicated to unlocking insights from substantial volumes of structured, unstructured, transactional, and real-time data. Together, we analyze diverse data sources to understand customer usage patterns and deliver actionable, impactful insights using advanced metrics, algorithms, and statistical techniques.

Your Impact

As an AI Research Intern, you will contribute to sophisticated research in large language models (LLMs), natural language processing (NLP), and multimodal deep learning. Working with senior researchers and cross-functional teams, you'll help build, implement, and evaluate machine learning models and algorithms. You'll participate in data collection, preprocessing, and analysis, and assist in developing and fine-tuning AI models for a variety of applications. Your expertise in data manipulation, model building, and database design will help transform raw data into important insights, while you continue to develop your skills with the latest tools and frameworks.

You will also support research initiatives by creating experiments, comparing algorithms, tuning hyperparameters, and documenting results. In addition, you'll share findings with the team, contribute to reports and presentations, and help onboard new team members. Through collaboration and ongoing learning, your work will help identify business and research opportunities, drive strategic decisions, and advance the field of AI at Cisco.

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or a related field .

• Strong understanding of machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing concepts, validated through academic, project, or professional work.

• Experience training large language models (LLMs)-including modeling, optimization, fine-tuning, and serving-using Python and common AI libraries (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch , Hugging Face Transformers), evidenced through academic, project, or professional work.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with agentic AI concepts, agent frameworks, and related applications.

• Proficiency in software development, with experience in relevant programming languages (such as Python and Go) and associated tools.

• Experience working with inference engines (e.g., vLLM , Triton, TorchServe ) for LLM serving and optimization.

• Familiarity with containerization and cloud platforms (such as Docker and AWS), as well as distributed systems for scaling and deploying AI models.

Why Cisco?

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:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $44,000.00 to $130,000.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

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 - $185,000.00

Non-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.