Farnell Expanded Access to Emerson NI Nigel AI
The distribution agreement adds AI-driven test code generation and automation to global engineering workflows.
Updated on Oct. 2, 2026 in Robotics
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Farnell has expanded its distribution of Emerson's NI Nigel AI technology, which now includes new capabilities for automated test development and code generation. The tools are designed to integrate directly with existing NI LabVIEW and TestStand environments.
Why it matters
As engineering systems face increasing pressure to accelerate development cycles without sacrificing validation quality, AI-assisted tools are becoming essential for managing complex testing workflows. This expansion enables engineers to adopt automated code generation within established software ecosystems.
Emerson demonstrated a reduction in task duration from 20 hours to 20 minutes, marking a significant performance gain over prior manual development methods. The technology integrates into the existing NI LabVIEW and NI TestStand software environments.
The players
Farnell
A global distributor of industrial and electronic components that manages supply chain logistics for engineering and manufacturing firms.
Emerson
An industrial technology company specializing in automation, measurement, and software solutions for critical infrastructure.
The details
Engineers interact with the Nigel AI platform through prompt-based commands to generate functional code and automated test sequences. The software functions by hooking directly into NI LabVIEW, a graphical programming environment used for system design, and NI TestStand, which manages test execution. This allows users to offload the repetitive construction of test sequences to the AI while maintaining the existing measurement and control architecture.
Timeline
2026: NI Connect 2026 was held where the technology was demonstrated.
October 2, 2026: Farnell announced the expanded access to Nigel AI.
The Tech Race
This integration follows a broader industry trend of embedding generative AI into the NI LabVIEW and TestStand software ecosystems to automate complex validation cycles. It represents a direct competitive shift toward reducing manual engineering overhead in industrial test and measurement environments.
Engineers currently utilizing the NI ecosystem can now access these tools through Farnell's distribution network to replace manual test sequence creation. The update specifically changes the workflow for LabVIEW and TestStand users looking to shorten development tasks from hours to minutes.
The takeaway
The move signals a transition toward AI-native software in industrial testing where speed-to-market is a critical metric. Engineers should monitor the upcoming integration benchmarks for specific task types to see if these performance gains hold across different hardware measurement configurations.
Further reading
For more on the evolution of automated testing systems, visit our coverage on Robotics.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Electronic Specifier.
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