Product Manager, AI SASE Platform at Cisco in San Jose, California, US

Job description

• As a Product Manager for the SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) Platform at Cisco, you will spearhead our pivot toward an AI-driven, agentic operating model. Your core mission is to architect and deploy AI agents that unify operations and self-management across use cases, including AI and agentic security, cloud-based applications, data security, modern branch and remote access, and principles of zero trust architecture. By collapsing functional silos you will build a cohesive ecosystem anchored by Cisco Cloud Control and the AI Canvas.
• In this role, you'll compose the end-to-end vision for our administration interaction model, shifting from manual configuration to intent-based, AI-orchestrated management. By crafting agentic workflows, you will streamline cross-domain investigations, significantly accelerating problem resolution and driving platform-wide engagement.
• You will serve as the primary architect of a strategy that transforms disparate security and network components into highly efficient and intelligent SASE experience.

Responsibilities

• AI-Driven Product Strategy: Develop and own the end-to-end lifecycle of cross-domain features. You will define the roadmap for AI operational simplicity, ensuring that agentic workflows contribute across the SASE stack.
• Agentic Workflow Design: Architect and lead the lifecycle of intelligent, cross-domain AI agents to simplify complex network and security operations.
• Lifecycle Ownership: Own the full product lifecycle—from conceptualization and AI model integration to production, release, and end-of-life—ensuring that intelligent features remain performant and relevant.
• Central Coordination: Act as the central hub for engineering, data science, design, and marketing teams as you lead AI-enabled products through the development and distribution pipeline.
• End-to-End Management: Provide continuous oversight throughout all product stages, including the improvement of agentic capabilities, maintenance of AI models, and platform upgrades.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Facilitate deep technical alignment between engineering, business development, and customer support to bring autonomous, AI features to market.
• Value Proposition: Articulate the strategic benefits of our agentic platform to internal teams, customers, and partners, identifying the tangible value of AI operational efficiency.
• Performance Metrics: Define, monitor, and optimize key performance indicators specifically related to AI agent efficacy, cross-domain investigation speed, and overall system automation success.
• Customer Adoption: Accelerate the adoption of intelligent features by identifying strategic investment opportunities and influencing channel partners to prioritize AI-ready infrastructure.

Requirements

• 3+ years of product management experience within the technology sector
• Experience with AI/ML, Large Language Models (LLMs), and/or agentic frameworks
• Experience with SASE, Enterprise Networking, and/or Security markets
• Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years' related experience, Master’s degree with 3+ years' relevant experience or PhD with 1+ year experience
• Extensive experience in data-driven AI product development and the management of intelligent, automated, or agent-based workflows
• Seasoned Product Manager with proven experience leading cross-functionally from ideation, defining strategy and technical road maps, requirement definition, driving development/engineering outcomes to commercialization and launch. Ability to lead, influence, motivate and build consensus across an organization
• Security mindset working at scale, with experience bridging networking & security
• Background in platform user experience or IT/network/security operations
• Clear communication skills with the ability to translate AI/ML concepts into actionable business strategies for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Engineering background complemented by an MBA

Skills

Required

• Product management
• AI/ML
• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Agentic frameworks
• SASE
• Enterprise Networking
• Security markets

Preferred

• Data-driven AI product development
• Cross-functional leadership
• Security mindset working at scale
• Platform user experience
• IT/network/security operations
• Clear communication skills
• Engineering background

Benefits

• Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:
• The starting salary range posted for this position is $154,900.00 to $225,300.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.
• Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.
• U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.
• U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:
• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees
• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)
• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next
• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
• For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.
• Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:
• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;
• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;
• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and
• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.
• For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.
• The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:
• $154,900.00 - $259,100.00
• $136,500.00 - $228,300.00
• * For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.
• ** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.