Cisco · 2 weeks ago
Principal Applied AI Scientist
San Jose, CA
Full-time
Hybrid
Lead/Staff
$292K/yr - $369K/yr
8+ years expCisco, through its subsidiary Splunk, is focused on building a safer digital world with advanced AI solutions. The Principal Applied AI Scientist will lead the vision and lifecycle of AI foundation models, ensuring alignment with organizational goals while mentoring technical talent and fostering innovation.
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Responsibilities
Set and Drive Vision: Define and champion the strategic vision for AI and foundation models across Splunk and Cisco platforms, shaping the research and technology roadmap to anticipate and address industry‑defining challenges
Architect and Lead Breakthroughs: Lead the end‑to‑end lifecycle of research, design, and deployment for large‑scale foundation models targeting machine‑generated data, with deep focus on logs and complementary modalities (time series, traces, events)
Influence at Scale: Partner with executive leadership, engineering, product, and data science teams to ensure AI solutions align with broader organizational objectives, product strategies, and customer needs
Mentorship and Thought Leadership: Cultivate organizational excellence by mentoring senior technical talent, fostering research communities, and driving best practices in AI across global teams
Foster Innovation: Embed cutting‑edge research and technological advances into products, driving sustained competitive advantage and transformation at enterprise scale
Qualification
Required
PhD in Computer Science, or related quantitative field, plus 8+ years of industry research experience
Proven track record in at least one of the following areas: large language modeling for both structure and unstructured data, deep learning‑based time series modeling, advanced anomaly detection, and multi-modality modeling
Solid proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow)
Experience translating research ideas into production systems
Preferred
Deep NLP & Domain‑Adapted LLMs: Background in building and adapting large‑scale language models (e.g., T5, BERT, LLaMA, GPTs) for specialized domains including structured/unstructured logs, text, and event sequences
Log Analytics Expertise – In‑depth knowledge of structured/unstructured system logs, event sequence analysis, anomaly detection, and root cause identification
Advanced Anomaly Detection – Experience creating robust, scalable approaches (statistical, deep learning, or hybrid) for high‑volume, real‑time logs data
Multi‑Modal AI Modeling – Strong track record fusing logs, time series, traces, tabular data, and graphs for foundation models tackling complex operational insights
Large‑Scale Training & Optimization – Experience optimizing model architectures, distributed training pipelines, and inference efficiency to minimize cost and latency while preserving accuracy
MLOps & Continuous Learning – Fluency in automated retraining, drift detection, incremental updates, and production monitoring of ML models
Strong Research Track Record – Publications in top AI/ML conferences or journals (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, CVPR, ACL, KDD) demonstrating contributions to state‑of‑the‑art methods and real‑world applications
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
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 determined by Cisco
16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year
Flexible vacation time off program
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
Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
Annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies
Company
Cisco
Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, telecommunications equipment, and other technology services and products. It is a sub-organization of Cisco Press.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Cisco has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
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reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
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2025 (1238)
2024 (1231)
2023 (1273)
2022 (2127)
2021 (1991)
2020 (1173)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
unknown1990-02-13IPO
Leadership Team
Chuck Robbins
Chair and CEO
Carl Solder
Chief Technology Officer - Cisco System Australia/New Zealand
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