Explore the inflationary paradigm in cosmology through this comprehensive lecture from the Physics of the Early Universe online program. Delve into the importance of inflation, its role in the Big Bang theory, and how it addresses initial condition problems. Examine various inflationary models, including multi-field and vector field models, and their observational predictions. Investigate primordial non-Gaussianity, its significance, and current observational limits. Learn about gravitational waves from inflation and their potential for probing high-energy physics. Discuss new avenues in cosmological research, including anisotropies in the stochastic gravitational wave background. Conclude with an overview of future observational strategies and open questions in the field of cosmic inflation.