Software Engineer Intern

About the Team

At Cisco, we build the software that powers the global internet. Join our engineering team to develop the infrastructure that connects billions of people, businesses, and governments. You will work alongside industry experts to solve complex technical challenges in networking, cloud, and system engineering.

Your Impact

You will develop, test, and refine the software that forms the backbone of our platforms—from networking protocols and embedded systems to scalable cloud applications. Your work will directly influence the reliability and performance of our global solutions. We value engineers who prioritize quality and continuous improvement. You will be expected to influence technical decisions, optimize system designs, and use AI-assisted workflows to streamline development. You will take ownership of your projects, adapt to evolving challenges, and deliver high-quality, secure, and privacy-focused code.

Specializations

Software Engineer - Networking Protocols

Join our team to develop next-generation networking protocols. If you enjoy solving complex technical puzzles and want to improve network performance and scalability, this is the right role for you.

• Core CS: Strong grasp of Data Structures and Algorithms.
• Networking: Academic foundation in TCP/IP, routing, and switching. Experience with network simulation tools (e.g., Cisco Packet Tracer, GNS3) or Wireshark is preferred.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in C or C++ with experience in multi-threading and socket programming.
• Security: Understanding of modern security frameworks, including firewalls, Zero Trust architecture, and encryption protocols (e.g., TLS).
• AI Tooling: Ability to use AI coding assistants (e.g., Claude, GitHub Copilot) to accelerate development and automate testing.

Software Engineer - Application Development

Join our team to build scalable, high-impact cloud applications. If you are interested in modern software development and creating intuitive user experiences, we want to hear from you.

• Core CS: Strong grasp of computer science principles and development frameworks.
• Languages: Proficiency in at least one major language (Java, Python, Go, or React).
• Web Fundamentals: Understanding of HTTP, RESTful APIs, and database concepts (SQL/NoSQL).
• System Design: Ability to think critically about application scalability and cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• AI Tooling: Ability to use AI coding assistants to troubleshoot, optimize, and accelerate development.

Software Engineer - Embedded and System Development

Join our team to work on low-level programming and embedded systems. If you are interested in building high-performance systems where software meets hardware, this is the right role for you.

• Core CS: Strong grasp of computer architecture and digital design principles.
• Programming: Proficiency in C/C++ and Python, with an interest in memory management and resource-constrained environments.
• OS Internals: Understanding of processes, threads, memory management, and user/kernel space separation.
• Hardware: Exposure to microcontrollers, RTOS, device drivers, or hardware-software interfacing.
• AI Tooling: Ability to use AI coding assistants to optimize system logic and generate reliable code.

AI Proficiency Requirements

Candidates Must Demonstrate a Forward-thinking Approach To AI-integrated Engineering:

• AI-Assisted Development & SDLC: Active use of AI tools (e.g., Cursor, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex) to accelerate coding, automate testing, and improve code quality, while maintaining human-in-the-loop accountability and process transparency.
• AI Agents & Advanced Workflows: Experience or strong interest in moving beyond basic prompting to autonomous systems, including task decomposition, agentic development, and exposure to frameworks like LangChain, LangGraph and the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• LLM Fundamentals & Architecture: A solid conceptual understanding of Generative AI, including token usage, context windows, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), vector databases, and the basics of production engineering (guardrails, monitoring and scaling).

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or Electronics.
• Proven ability to resolve complex technical problems.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills.
• Self-motivated with a strong drive to achieve results.

Education & Eligibility

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or Electronics.
• Eligible batch years: 2029, 2028, 2027, 2026.

This vacancy is for the 2028 batch.