Starting your machine learning career with a global technology leader gives you exposure to real-world AI systems, enterprise-scale data, and world-class engineering practices. Cisco is hiring for the role of Machine Learning Engineer – Master’s Intern under its India Engineering / Splunk (UHR) team. This internship is based in India (Hyderabad) and is designed for postgraduate students who want hands-on experience in applied machine learning, data science, and AI-driven product development.
This opportunity is ideal for candidates who want to move beyond academic ML concepts and work on production-level problems in security, observability, and large-scale data analytics.
About Cisco and Splunk Engineering
Cisco is a global leader in networking, cloud, security, and AI-driven solutions. Through its acquisition of Splunk, Cisco has strengthened its capabilities in data analytics, observability, and security intelligence. From an experience and trust perspective, Cisco is known for long-term innovation, strong engineering culture, and global impact.
The Splunk engineering team focuses on turning massive volumes of machine data into actionable insights using machine learning and advanced analytics. Interns work on meaningful projects that directly support enterprise products.
Job Overview – Machine Learning Engineer Master’s Intern
The Machine Learning Engineer Master’s Intern role is a full-time internship position within Cisco’s India Engineering organization, aligned with Splunk’s data and AI initiatives.
Key job details include:
- Job Title: Machine Learning Engineer – Master’s Intern
- Qualification: Bachelor’s / Master’s Degree (Master’s preferred)
- Experience Level: Entry Level / Internship
- Job Location: India (Hyderabad)
- Employment Type: Internship
- Business Unit: Splunk (Cisco)
This role provides deep exposure to real ML workflows used in enterprise software.
Role Purpose and Business Impact
The primary purpose of this internship is to support the development, evaluation, and optimization of machine learning models used in Cisco and Splunk products. Interns contribute to AI features that help organizations detect anomalies, improve observability, enhance security, and gain insights from large-scale data.
This role bridges academic learning with professional ML engineering, helping candidates understand how models are built, tested, and deployed in real systems.
Key Responsibilities
Machine Learning Engineer interns typically work on hands-on technical tasks under guidance from senior engineers.
Core responsibilities include:
- Assisting in data preprocessing, cleaning, and feature engineering
- Developing and experimenting with machine learning models
- Evaluating model performance using appropriate metrics
- Supporting integration of ML models into software systems
- Writing clean, efficient, and well-documented code
- Debugging and optimizing ML pipelines
- Collaborating with software engineers and data scientists
- Documenting experiments, results, and learnings
These responsibilities help interns gain practical ML engineering experience.
Eligibility Criteria and Educational Background
Candidates applying for this role should meet the following criteria.
Basic eligibility includes:
- Currently pursuing or recently completed a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, AI, or related fields
- Strong interest in machine learning and data-driven problem-solving
- Ability to work from the India office location during the internship
Final-year postgraduate students and recent graduates are encouraged to apply.
Technical Skills Required
Cisco looks for candidates with strong ML and programming fundamentals.
Preferred technical skills include:
- Understanding of machine learning algorithms and concepts
- Programming skills in Python, Java, or C++
- Familiarity with ML frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch
- Knowledge of data structures and algorithms
- Experience with data manipulation libraries like NumPy and Pandas
- Basic understanding of statistics and probability
Hands-on academic projects or internships in ML are a strong advantage.
Professional Skills and Attributes
In addition to technical skills, successful interns demonstrate:
- Strong analytical and problem-solving ability
- Curiosity and willingness to learn new technologies
- Clear written and verbal communication
- Ability to collaborate in cross-functional teams
- Attention to detail and documentation discipline
These attributes are critical in enterprise engineering environments.
Skills You Will Develop During the Internship
This internship helps build highly valuable, industry-relevant skills.
Skills gained include:
- Practical machine learning model development
- Working with large, real-world datasets
- ML experimentation and evaluation techniques
- Code quality, version control, and documentation
- Collaboration with experienced engineers
- Exposure to enterprise AI and analytics systems
These skills significantly strengthen future career prospects in AI and data engineering.
Work Culture and Learning Environment
Cisco promotes a culture of learning, inclusion, and innovation. Interns are treated as contributors, not observers, and receive mentorship from experienced professionals. Teams encourage experimentation, feedback, and continuous improvement.
The India engineering teams collaborate closely with global stakeholders, providing exposure to international standards and practices.
Career Growth and Future Opportunities
Completing an ML internship at Cisco can open doors to multiple career paths.
Potential future roles include:
- Machine Learning Engineer
- Data Scientist
- AI or Analytics Engineer
- Software Engineer with ML specialization
- Research or Advanced Analytics roles
Internship experience at Cisco adds strong credibility to your professional profile.
Selection Process Overview
Candidates can generally expect the following stages:
- Online application and resume screening
- Technical assessment or ML-focused evaluation
- Technical interviews with engineering team members
- Behavioral or culture-fit discussion
- Final selection and onboarding
Strong fundamentals and clear explanation of ML projects improve selection chances.
How to Apply for Cisco Machine Learning Engineer Master’s Intern Role
Candidates should apply only through the official Cisco careers portal.
Steps to apply:
- Visit the official Cisco job listing
- Review the internship details and eligibility criteria carefully
- Click on Apply Now
- Create or log in to your Cisco candidate profile
- Fill in accurate personal and academic information
- Upload an updated resume and relevant project links
- Submit the application
