NI Days 2025: pioneering the future of test & measurement

The event showcased a bold vision of intelligent testing systems that leverage cutting-edge hardware, software, and artificial intelligence to solve complex engineering challenges.

Engineering excellence meets innovation

Taylor Riché, Director of Technology and Innovation Software, NI took to the stage to talk about the company’s latest R&D efforts.

“We’ve taken a platform-based approach to test and measurement,” he explained. “Our software and modular hardware have helped customers solve problems for almost 50 years.”

However, the focus of his talk was not just the platform’s past, but its evolving future. Riché highlighted that the drive now was to reduce time across multiple vectors – from programming test systems, to achieving first yield, to accelerating time-to-market.

At the core of this drive is what Riché called “intelligent test.” He explained that this approach was designed to build on NI’s platform foundations to help customers move faster and work smarter. And a big part of this shift was the integration of artificial intelligence.

The challenge now was helping customers benefit from these trends. With the emergence of Cloud compute, Edge computing, massively parallel GPUs and MPUs, and petabytes of storage capability, systems were becoming “systems of systems.” Test environments are more complex than ever, with increasing requirements for high-speed data interconnects and dynamic computational models. AI, including classical machine learning and LLMs, have to be part of this integration.

“Our intelligent test approach is designed to help you deal with those abstractions and focus on your domain expertise to make you the most successful,” Riché explained.

The software layer must now shift from being tool-based to being outcome-oriented: “We see a vision where the AI helps you orchestrate tasks, but always keeps you involved. Always make sure you, the expert, are in control.”

NI had taken a principled approach to AI integration, rooted in two main philosophies: data ownership, and expert control. “Your data stays your data,” Riché emphasised. “And the expert is always in the loop.”

Introducing Nigel, the AI Advisor

The Nigel AI Advisor is NI’s new AI-powered tool for test and measurement. Nigel brings a wealth of knowledge about the NI platform to make NI LabVIEW and NI TestStand even more powerful.

“Nigel is really some of the most exciting work I’ve been part of in my 14 years at NI,” Riché said.

Here are some of the things Nigel can do:

• Find examples – a good example can be a timesaving starting point for a new application, in addition to being a great way to learn coding best practices. Nigel can help you find examples that show you how to set up your application
• Provide instructions for specific tasks – tell Nigel what you want to do in your own words, and the advisor can give you step-by-step instructions for how to complete the task
• Get explanations for key concepts – learning a new software product or how to program in general can sometimes be like learning a new language. Nigel can help make that easier. For example, Nigel can help with topics like the basics of using loops in your application or when to consider using object-oriented programming
• Describe the functionality of existing test IP – if you’ve ever inherited code created by someone else, such as a predecessor or a different team, you may struggle to understand what portions of the programming are doing. Nigel can explain the function of different portions of the code
• Find the right setting – NI’s highly customisable software offers many options and settings. Nigel can help you quickly find the right dialog box or menu for your NI software without spending time searching on your own
• Summarise documentation – Nigel can provide a short summary of long, complex documentation topics to help you grasp the main points more quickly. You can also ask it to cite the sources of the information so you can dig in deeper, as needed
• Ask Nigel about NI hardware – Nigel doesn’t just know about software! It can also answer questions about NI hardware, such as connector information or pin functionality, as well as provide general knowledge on test and measurement concepts, like recommended sampling rates to avoid aliasing

Nigel will be available to new and existing customers with LabVIEW and TestStand on 22^nd July 2025.  

Hardware and software innovations

One focus of the event was the company’s hardware and software roadmaps.

The most popular launch from the previous year was the return of the DAQ platform. Three key updates are associated with this product line, the first of which is a significant wave of new DAQ releases. While some have already launched and others are being shown at the event, attendees were told to expect much more in the near future.

A key area of focus was pricing. Based on customer input, NI is introducing lower-cost options to make its hardware more accessible. Additionally, the company is enhancing its software to be more powerful and flexible, unlocking greater capability in its hardware.

Last September, NI launched the mioDAQ, which raised the bar for USB-based measurements in both user experience and performance. The company continues to expand this product line, including the recent release of an OEM version of the mioDAQ. Software enhancements include ongoing feature development, supporting tools like smart ID pin detection, configurable voltage levels, and analogue triggers.

The role of software in maximising hardware utility was further emphasised with FlexLogger, described as the ideal software companion for DAQ hardware. In line with accessibility goals, NI has released FlexLogger Lite – a free version of FlexLogger that allows users to configure measurements, build dashboards, and store results in various file formats. FlexLogger Lite comes bundled with all DAQ hardware.

Continuing with the DAQ is back initiative, NI introduced two new low-cost products: the Ethernet cDAQ and USB-C cDAQ. Each is available in single-core and quad-core variants and can be ordered immediately. Alongside this, NI is launching cost-effective and enhanced connectivity options across multiple C Series modules, also available for immediate order.

Improving the user onboarding process is another area of focus. To support this, NI has created starter bundles combining its most popular hardware with key application types, including thermal testing, shock and vibration testing, and structural testing. These bundles aim to simplify both procurement and implementation.

NI expressed its ambition to lead in the DAQ space with a full and diverse product portfolio. Among the new launches is FieldDAQ, the company’s most rugged DAQ offering to date. Rated IP67, it is built to withstand 100G shock, 10G vibration, and other demanding conditions.

Turning attention to PXI, NI highlighted its role as a long-standing innovation platform. Since the introduction of PXI in 1997, the company has continued to advance the technology across processing, data movement, timing, synchronisation, and instrumentation.

NI recently introduced its second-generation ATCA-compatible chassis, designed to support efficient smart rack-based system integration. The company also promotes InstrumentStudio, a tool described as the ultimate companion for PXI instrumentation. InstrumentStudio enables visualisation and control of instruments, facilitates configuration and export to LabVIEW, and allows sharing of driver sessions for debugging and monitoring. It also supports collaborative workflows by enabling project and configuration sharing across teams, helping scale applications effectively. Importantly, InstrumentStudio is available free of charge with all PXI hardware.

The PXI offering is supported by NI’s RFmx software suite, which provided interoperable, pre-configured measurement capabilities – automating complex tasks and delivering high measurement speeds without compromising performance.

A strong emphasis was placed on NI’s track record of innovation. Over the past decade, the company has dramatically increased RF performance. For instance, its signal analysers and generators evolved from 8 to up to 54GHz of bandwidth. The 15x bandwidth improvement was supported by scalable PXI architecture, a consistent API, and flexible driver support.

NI’s RFmx software continues to evolve in step with the latest wireless communication standards. NI’s team remain actively involved in standards development, regularly participating in 3GPP and Bluetooth SIG meetings to ensure support for emerging protocols such as Wi-Fi 7, 5G NR, and Bluetooth. This enables NI to rapidly integrate updates into its software, maintaining measurement accuracy and compliance with industry evolution.

To improve flexibility for developers, NI has added gRPC interfaces to RFmx, supporting multi-language software development environments. This allows users to integrate NI test capabilities across a broader range of programming languages and platforms, aligning with modern development practices in RF and wireless applications.

LabVIEW remains central to NI’s innovation efforts. The company has shifted resources to accelerate its development, culminating in a new release due in July with numerous new features. Many of these enhancements have originated from user feedback via the Idea Exchange platform, reflecting a renewed commitment to engaging with the user community.

One such enhancement is enhanced comparison report. Collaborative workloads are increasingly critical as teams and system complexity grow, making it essential to track changes accurately. Over the past eighteen months, improvements have been made, including filtering out cosmetic changes such as wire movements that did not affect functionality. Users can filter between front panel and block diagram changes to distinguish UI adjustments from functional code modifications. These tools can be tailored to fit specific workflows.

Security is a significant concern, especially under regulations such as the European Cyber Resilience Act. NI has implemented internal changes to ensure all code and software shipments meet stringent security standards. This includes providing software bills of materials (SBOMs), secure configuration guides for LabVIEW, SystemLink, and the Linux real-time platform, and working closely with customers’ IT, security, and legal teams to mitigate risks. Security features are fully integrated within existing products rather than offered as separate modules, enabling customers to build secure test systems efficiently.

NI plans to continue investing in a workflow-based approach, reflecting customer feedback that the priority was completing work quickly and delivering data to design teams, rather than focusing on which tool was used. The objective was to reduce friction and improve efficiency across the testing ecosystem.

SystemLink plays a crucial role within workflows, serving as a central hub that enables engineering and test teams to manage data and assets more efficiently. It supports overall test engineering, lab operations, and product improvement. However, SystemLink has presented challenges for some customers due to its price and installation complexity. To address this, a new version of SystemLink was announced in April, designed specifically for smaller labs with teams of five to ten users and a limited number of systems. This version offers a reduced price and simplified onboarding experience, with no need for custom NI services. It can be purchased directly from the web, allowing teams to start small and expand as needed.

Conclusion

NI's London event painted a picture of a company deeply committed to innovation, customer feedback, and collaborative progress. By investing in hardware, software, and community, NI positions itself as a critical enabler of technological advancement across industries.

The message was clear: the future of test and measurement is modular, intelligent, and increasingly interconnected.