Distinguished AI Engineer, Palo Alto Networks
Office of the CTO
More information about location
Leading cybersecurity protections and software platform
Be an early applicant
Leading cybersecurity protections and software platform
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To be the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.
Role
Who you are
- 10+ years in software/ML engineering, with 2+ years leading applied Generative AI or LLM initiatives at scale
- Proven expertise in: Large & Multimodal Models: fine-tuning, RAG, alignment, hallucination testing
- Distributed systems & MLOps: containerized inference, model-versioning, feature stores
- Programming: Python (required) plus one of Go, Java, Javascript
- Cloud AI stacks (GCP Vertex, AWS SageMaker, Azure ML) and vector databases
- Hands-on experience integrating AI into developer tooling (IDE plug-ins, CI/CD, observability dashboards)
- Deep understanding of cybersecurity concepts (attack vectors, threat intelligence, MITRE ATT&CK) and ability to translate them into AI features
- Strong communication skills; comfortable presenting to VP/C-suite audiences, driving cross-functional alignment, and representing technical strategy at external conferences
- B.S. or higher in CS, EE, Mathematics, or related field; M.S./Ph.D. or equivalent military experience
- Proven track record of mentorship and technical leadership across organizational boundaries
What the job involves
- As a Distinguished AI Engineer in the Office of the CTO (OCTO), you will shape the next of AI-powered security and developer-productivity solutions. You will lead exploratory research, rapid prototyping, and cross-functional pilots that fuse state-of-the-art foundation models with Palo Alto Networks’ security platforms
- Drive end-to-end AI integrations with industry-leading foundation models (e.g., current frontier LLMs) across text, code, image, and multimodal domains
- Prototype and benchmark MCP and A2A protocols to enable dynamic orchestration of multiple agents and tools
- Lead context engineering & prompt design for RAG and agentic workflows; create evaluation harnesses to measure accuracy, latency, and cost
- Build proof-of-concepts that embed AI throughout the software-development life-cycle (SDLC)—planning, coding, code review, testing, and release—to quantify productivity gains
- Research and validate AI-driven cybersecurity use-cases (e.g., threat-hunting copilots, real-time anomaly triage) and partner with product groups to harden prototypes for production
- Instrument metrics pipelines that track developer and security-analyst outcomes to demonstrate ROI of AI initiatives
- Craft executive-level narratives, demos, and visualizations that clearly communicate innovation roadmaps, technical trade-offs, and business impact
- Mentor senior engineers and researchers; foster a culture of experimentation, responsible AI, and security-first thinking
- Lead strategic external partnerships and technical advocacy, collaborating with major industry partners to shape defensive AI product roadmaps
- Engage with policy and ethics working groups to ensure responsible and compliant AI deployment, including navigating legal and corporate communications reviews
Our take
With cyber threats evolving at lightening speed, businesses need robust solutions to protect their data and infrastructure. And the global cybersecurity market is projected to grow significantly, driven by increasing cyberattacks and the adoption of digital transformation initiatives. Because of this, companies are seeking security platforms that can address these challenges efficiently.
That's where Palo Alto Networks steps in, a frontrunner in the cybersecurity arena. It offers a suite of AI-powered security solutions designed to safeguard enterprises across various sectors. Its platforms, such as Cortex XSIAM and Prisma AIRS, integrate advanced threat detection, zero trust architecture, and real-time response capabilities so organizations are ready to manage and mitigate risks.
Its leadership is evident too, with impressive growth and strategic partnerships. In 2025, the company surpassed $1.5B in sales through the Google Cloud Marketplace, highlighting the demand for its innovative security solutions. Additionally, a collaboration with AT&T aims to enhance cybersecurity offerings, further solidifying its market position.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
119% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Sep 2022
$34m
SERIES A
May 2022
$11m
SEED
Total funding: $45m
Company benefits
- Healthcare: We value your health and provide options so you can choose what best supports your lifestyle and personal health goals. Various nationwide plans — including Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente, Delta Dental, VSP, and more — are available to you and your family. Our providers offer the flexibility you want and the coverage you need
- Wellness: With a large on-site gym and daily, instructor-led exercise classes at HQ in Santa Clara, Palo Alto Networks actively supports employee fitness. Our juice bar, Gym & Juice, features fresh juice blends, a quick and nutritious option pre- or post-workout. And our ongoing wellness speaker series highlights the latest trends in health and wellness
- Development: Professional development is serious business at Palo Alto Networks, where the Talent Development team offers 25+ courses to help employees boost their careers and develop leadership capability
- Financial: Most roles are eligible for equity grants, and we now offer new hires a quarterly vesting schedule right away. We want you to be fairly compensated and rewarded as soon as you make an impact – on our team, that happens immediately! And because we consider every employee a stakeholder in our long-term success, we offer an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with a 24-month lookback. From life insurance to health savings accounts, we provide ways to help you protect and grow your wealth. Palo Alto Networks offers both traditional and Roth 401(k) options, along with a company match of 50% to a max annual amount of $1,000
- Time Off: In addition to paid corporate holidays, Flexible Time Off programs empower our employees to balance their work schedules with personal time off. We offer 12 weeks of full pay for medical leave and 6 weeks of full pay for parental leave. As a company with strong ties to the military and veterans, we also offer 26 weeks of full pay for military leave
- Perks: Our corporate discount program provides employees with significant discounts on merchandise, travel and entertainment. We offer many on-site perks at headquarters, including cafeterias, fuel service, dry cleaning service, EV charging stations, and a company store. We also provide complimentary drinks, fresh fruit, and snacks in break rooms across our campus to help everyone power through the day. Life at Palo Alto Network
Company HQ
Santa Clara, CA
Leadership
Nikesh Arora
(CEO & Chairman)Previously the President and COO at SoftBank, CBO at Google, and CMO at T-Mobile.
Nir Zuk
(Founder & CTO)Previously CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Neworks in 2004. They also co-founded OneSecure where they served as CTO and was the Principal Engineer at Check Point Software Technologies.
Lee Klarich
(CPO)Initially joined Palo Alto in 2006 as the EVP of Product Management and became CPO in 2018. Prior to this, they were the Director of Product Management at Juniper Networks and a Product Line Manager at NetScreen Technologies.
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