PhD AI/ML Modeling Intern

Who We Are

Cisco ThousandEyes is a Digital Experience Assurance platform that empowers organizations to deliver flawless digital experiences across every network – even the ones they don’t own. Powered by AI and an unmatched set of cloud, internet and enterprise network telemetry data, ThousandEyes enables IT teams to proactively detect, diagnose, and remediate issues – before they impact end- user experiences.

ThousandEyes is deeply integrated across the entire Cisco technology portfolio and beyond, helping customers deploy at scale while also delivering AI-powered assurance insights within Cisco’s leading Networking, Security, Collaboration, and Observability portfolios.

About the Role

*This is for a Winter internship ideally starting in January 2025*

ThousandEyes interns and co-ops join the team for 12 and 16 week programs, respectively, and are placed directly onto subteams. During the program, interns/co-ops have the opportunity to work on a small starter project, such as integration and implementation of new tools, before spending the majority of the program on a larger project, such as fine tuning a model for a new algorithm. Projects are cross functional, which allow insight into new models and technologies, help encourage professional growth within engineering, and allow a sense of ownership within the team. ThousandEyes engineering teams place a high emphasis on mentorship. Each intern and co-op is matched 1:1 with a mentor who provides continual feedback and guidance throughout the duration of the program. Mentors help with introductions to other team members, overviews of tools and processes, and provide a seamless integration into ThousandEyes Life.

What we’re looking for:

• PhD in CS and AI/ML fields
• Experience with fine-tuning, pre-training SLMs and LLMs, your expertise spans neural networks including transformer models, Large Language Models, decision trees, and other traditional machine learning models, translating conceptual ideas into actual solutions.
• Proficiency in Python
• Excited to tackle open-ended problems
• Interest in dealing with large data sets and eval frameworks 
• Understanding of networking, routing, and time series is a plus

Cisco values the perspectives and skills that emerge from employees with diverse backgrounds. That's why Cisco is expanding the boundaries of discovering top talent by not only focusing on candidates with educational degrees and experience but also placing more emphasis on unlocking potential. We believe that everyone has something to offer and that diverse teams are better equipped to solve problems, innovate, and create a positive impact.
We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification. Not all strong candidates will meet every single qualification. Research shows that people from underrepresented groups are more prone to experiencing imposter syndrome and doubting the strength of their candidacy. We urge you not to prematurely exclude yourself and to apply if you're interested in this work.

Cisco is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Cisco will consider for employment, on a case by case basis, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.