Gen AI Research Intern – Zoom GenAI R&D Team

About the Team

At Zoom, we are redefining how the world communicates. Our GenAI R&D Team is a dynamic group of researchers and engineers pushing the boundaries of Large Language Models (LLMs), agentic systems, and multi-modal AI. We invite passionate Ph.D. candidates to join us in a supportive environment where you can contribute to groundbreaking projects that have a direct, real-world impact on millions of users.

Research Focus Areas

Instead of rigid project silos, our internship program invites you to contribute to one of several core research pillars. Specific projects will be matched based on your expertise and current business needs, potentially covering:

• Intelligent Agents & Reasoning: Research and design autonomous agents capable of complex reasoning, planning, and tool usage. Work may involve enhancing memory management, context engineering, and function-calling capabilities to improve system interactivity.

• Advanced Model Training & Alignment: Explore cutting-edge techniques in post-training, including Instruction Tuning, Reinforcement Learning (RLHF/RLAIF), and on-policy training frameworks. Opportunities also exist to investigate efficient architectures such as Mixture of Experts (MoE).

• Evaluation & Data Foundations: Develop robust benchmarking frameworks and synthetic data pipelines. This pillar focuses on understanding system upper bounds, creating high-quality datasets for training, and ensuring models meet high standards of performance and reliability.

• Multi-Modal Understanding: Work on state-of-the-art vision-language models (VLMs), exploring novel training techniques and applications that fuse vision and text for richer user experiences.

Key Responsibilities

• Research & Innovation: Design and implement algorithms within your focus area, conducting experiments to optimize model performance and propose new ideas that propel Zoom’s AI capabilities forward.

• Production Impact: Collaborate with engineering teams to translate research findings into practical solutions. Many projects prioritize immediate production value, such as building internal benchmarks or optimization recipes.

• Collaboration & Communication: Work closely with cross-functional teams, document your methodologies, and present your findings to the team. There are opportunities to contribute to internal reports and potentially external publications.

Basic Qualifications:

• Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.

• Strong foundation in Deep Learning, NLP, or Computer Vision.

• A proven track record in research, demonstrated through publications or impactful academic/industry projects.

Preferred Qualifications:

• For Agents & Systems: Experience with agentic workflows, API integrations, memory systems, or system-level design.

• For Training & Alignment: Familiarity with Reinforcement Learning (RL), reward modeling, or advanced model architectures (e.g., MoE).

• For Data & Eval: Background in designing evaluation metrics, constructing benchmarks, or generating synthetic data for model training.

Why Join Zoom?

• Impact: Your work will not just sit in a lab; it will help empower the delivery of advanced models that influence how millions communicate daily.

• Growth: Gain hands-on exposure to state-of-the-art AI techniques in a fast-paced, "no-ego" environment that values learning and creativity.

Culture: Join a diverse, inclusive community of trailblazers and AI pioneers.

Salary Range or On Target Earnings:

Minimum:

$66.50

Maximum:

$106.50

In addition to the base salary and/or OTE listed Zoom has a Total Direct Compensation philosophy that takes into consideration; base salary, bonus and equity value.

Note: Starting pay will be based on a number of factors and commensurate with qualifications & experience.

We also have a location based compensation structure;  there may be a different range for candidates in this and other locations.

Ways of Working
Our structured hybrid approach is centered around our offices and remote work environments. The work style of each role, Hybrid, Remote, or In-Person is indicated in the job description/posting.

Benefits
As part of our award-winning workplace culture and commitment to delivering happiness, our benefits program offers a variety of perks, benefits, and options to help employees maintain their physical, mental, emotional, and financial health; support work-life balance; and contribute to their community in meaningful ways. Click Learn for more information.

About Us
Zoomies help people stay connected so they can get more done together. We set out to build the best collaboration platform for the enterprise, and today help people communicate better with products like Zoom Contact Center, Zoom Phone, Zoom Events, Zoom Apps, Zoom Rooms, and Zoom Webinars.
We’re problem-solvers, working at a fast pace to design solutions with our customers and users in mind. Find room to grow with opportunities to stretch your skills and advance your career in a collaborative, growth-focused environment.

Our Commitment​

At Zoom, we believe great work happens when people feel supported and empowered. We’re committed to fair hiring practices that ensure every candidate is evaluated based on skills, experience, and potential. If you require an accommodation during the hiring process, let us know—we’re here to support you at every step.

We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives including qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records and any qualified applicants requiring reasonable accommodations in accordance with the law.

If you need assistance navigating the interview process due to a medical disability, please submit an Accommodations Request Form and someone from our team will reach out soon. This form is solely for applicants who require an accommodation due to a qualifying medical disability. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed.

Think of this opportunity as a marathon, not a sprint! We're building a strong team at Zoom, and we're looking for talented individuals to join us for the long haul. No need to rush your application – take your time to ensure it's a good fit for your career goals. We continuously review applications, so submit yours whenever you're ready to take the next step.