Principal AI Engineer - Enterprise AI Solutions

As a Principal AI Engineer for the Enterprise AI Platform, you will be a pivotal technical leader driving the design and hands-on implementation of AI-powered solutions. You will operate where AI innovation, top-tier engineering, and business outcomes converge, acting as the technical bridge between complex business problems and cutting-edge AI execution. Leveraging our robust Enterprise AI Platform, you will translate ambiguous problems into concrete AI solution designs and ensure their successful deployment and measurable impact., * Lead the applied AI solution design and architecture, breaking down ambiguous business problems into concrete, actionable AI solution designs.

• Drive the hands-on development and implementation of key AI components, supporting both traditional and Generative AI model development and deployment.
• Contribute significantly to the detailed design of large-scale, distributed AI/ML systems, ensuring performance, reliability, and security.
• Proactively collaborate with executive leadership, data science, engineering, and product stakeholders to translate business use-cases into scalable AI solutions.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to other AI/ML engineers, fostering a culture of engineering excellence and hands-on experimentation.
• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of MLOps pipelines, including automated model training, versioning, deployment, and monitoring.
• Champion and enforce design standards, patterns, and best practices for scalable and secure development of AI applications across various teams.
• Actively research and evaluate cutting-edge AI/ML techniques, algorithms, and models to identify opportunities for platform enhancement and new solution development.

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent military experience required.
• 12+ years of related experience, or a Master's degree with 8 years of experience, or a PhD with 5 years of experience.
• Proven expertise in designing and building complex, enterprise-grade AI/ML platforms and applications.
• Direct hands-on experience with Generative AI technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and agentic AI systems.
• Strong programming skills in languages such as Python, Java, or Go and proficiency in modern AI/ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Extensive hands-on experience with distributed systems architecture, streaming data platforms, and cloud AI/ML platforms (e.g., GCP Vertex AI, AWS SageMaker).

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related technical field.
• Experience contributing to open-source AI projects or publications in top-tier AI conferences.
• Prior experience in a technical consulting or solutions architecture role, bridging technical teams and senior business stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of cybersecurity principles as they apply to AI systems.

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/com-missioned roles) is expected to be the annual range listed below. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here (https://benefits.paloaltonetworks.com/) .

$185,200.00 - $299,475.00/yr

Our Commitment

We're trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity's status quo. It's simple: we can't accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.