AI/ML/Software Engineer

We welcome AI Researchers, Applied Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and Software Engineers with experience in large-scale systems and AI/ML to join Foundation AI, a Cisco's new group focused on developing open-source large language models (LLMs) for cybersecurity.

Meet the Team
Foundation AI's mission is to secure AI transformation. The Foundation AI team joined Cisco through the Robust Intelligence acquisition in fall 2024 to lead research and development of security and AI at Cisco. The team has deep expertise in AI and security and is an active contributor to cutting edge research and standards on AI and security. At Cisco, our mission is to build AI Security at Cisco scale as well as lead the next generation of AI infrastructure for disruptive security products across Cisco.

About Robust Intelligence
Robust Intelligence pioneered the category of AI Security and created the first platform for securing AI applications from supply chain, model vulnerabilities, and real time attacks. Funded by Sequoia and Tiger Global, Robust Intelligence customers include the world's largest banking and financial institutions, HR and payroll services, FinTech and financial software, technology and consumer electronics, insurance, consulting, travel, data centers and cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity as well as government agencies. The company was acquired by Cisco in 2024.

Your Impact
Here, you will tackle ever-evolving challenges and leverage the dynamic AI landscape to craft solutions that transform the cybersecurity industry. As an AI Researcher, you'll have the chance to design cutting-edge models and algorithms around AI for security. You'll gain deep expertise in the fields of both AI and security, engaging with all facets of generative AI techniques and their deployment in production environments. You will collaborate with a talented team of researchers, engineers, and security experts, and play a pivotal role in developing groundbreaking AI solutions. Shape the future of AI for Security with us and make an enduring impact on AI adoption across the world

• Track and analyze emerging AI systems, focusing on applications, and environments related to security and safety.
• Develop a platform for AI data training, fine tuning, evaluation and other AI related needs.
• Develop and train AI reasoning models for security applications.
• Develop Agentic models with the aim of automating security testing.
• Author blog posts, white papers, or research papers related to emerging threats in AI security.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams of researchers and engineers to translate research ideas into product features. You'll also have the opportunity to contribute to our overall machine learning culture as an early member of the team.

Minimum Qualifications

• A PhD in computer science or related fields OR Master's with 1 year of related industry experience OR Bachelor's with 2 years of related industry experience (or equivalent coursework/research experience).
• Strong programming skills in generic programming languages such as Python or Golang.

Experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Designing and building scalable, reliable, and secure backend infrastructure (e.g., distributed systems, cloud services, data pipelines, APIs) for large-scale applications.
• Developing and deploying machine learning or deep learning models, with practical application of core concepts such as bias and variance, supervised and unsupervised learning, and Generative AI.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AI/ML security risks such as data poisoning, privacy attacks, adversarial inputs, jailbreaks, etc.
• Experience developing proof-of-concept exploits for new or theoretical attacks.
• Comfortable with fast iterative style development in an environment that requires autonomous thinking, risk taking and bias for action.
• Ability to use the latest GenAI technologies and creative prompting. Comfortable with traditional ML frameworks like PyTorch, TensorFlow, FastAI etc...
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Fluency in reading academic papers on AI/ML and security and translating to prototype systems.

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.