About Dreamware
AI-native software engineering, built in New Zealand
Our story
Dreamware began as Prototype Interactive Labs — building for the web when the web was young. Over two decades, we evolved through every wave of technology: from early web applications through enterprise systems, cloud-native architecture, big data, and now artificial intelligence. The name changed, but the mission didn't: build technology that actually works for the people who use it. Today, Dreamware is an AI-native engineering practice. We don't just use AI — we think in AI. Every system we design considers where intelligence can create leverage, where automation can reduce friction, and where human judgment still matters most.
John Jansen — Founder
John Jansen has been building software for over thirty-five years — since his late teens. His career spans media and advertising, enterprise platforms, cloud architecture, data engineering, and machine learning — with work ranging from early-stage startups to systems used by millions. Much of that work is classified or built behind air-gapped networks — you won't find it in any portfolio. That breadth of experience is what Dreamware offers: principal-level thinking across the entire technology stack, from a practitioner who has built at every layer.
How we think
Build for the problem, not the trend
Technology choices should serve the business case, not the hype cycle. We'll recommend the boring option if it's the right one.
Senior thinking on every project
No juniors learning on your dime. Every engagement gets principal-level architecture and engineering.
Ship it, then hand it over clean
We build systems that your team or your ops partner can run without us. No vendor lock-in to Dreamware.
Three decades of building
Some things are too old to link to. Most of this work predates the modern web.
Late 1990s
Prototype Interactive Labs
Built MelanieIOS, a web content management system that powered 35 radio stations, second-screen television systems for TVNZ and TV3 (C4), and sites for Deloitte NZ, ATT Pacific, Coca-Cola, and Diet Coke. Cuisine magazine's website won #1 at the NZ Web Awards. Competing with Vignette StoryServer — years before WordPress existed.
1998
The Feelers — Supersystem
Built the interactive CD-ROM for The Feelers' debut album Supersystem — #1 in New Zealand, four times platinum, Album of the Year at the 1999 NZ Music Awards.
2000
MoreFM Auckland & CanWest Digital
Internet Architecture Manager for MoreFM Auckland, building what the NZ Herald called "this country's most vital online radio presence." 300,000 monthly visits across MoreFM and Channel Z. Built the melanie.co.nz real-time voting platform — 90,000 votes in a single day.
2004–2006
Jasons Travel Media
Consulting Software Engineer for NZ's largest travel publisher. Migrated 20,000+ accommodation and activity customers onto MelanieIOS.
2007–2011
KMS — Mercedes-Benz, TradeMe, Fonterra
Senior Software Engineer and Architect. Localised the Mercedes-Benz UK website for New Zealand, built a used-car listing platform feeding into TradeMe and Autotrader, and delivered API integrations for Cerebos-Gregg's, the NZ Census Database, and NZ Companies Office.
2010s
San Francisco — Quid, Master-McNeil, Primer
Several years in San Francisco. Built the scraping and analytics infrastructure at Quid that powered the "Mapping Ideas Worth Spreading" TED Talk. Built the Naming Matters brand automation platform at Master-McNeil. Identified the Fake News King for NPR Planet Money and tracked down online scammers for The Dr. Oz Show.
2020s
Primer AI & Dreamware
Consulting for Primer AI, built the NLP engine behind the COVID-19 research dashboard — 200,000+ papers, 1st Prize (Professional) in the CGDV Data Challenge, used by UCSF doctors. Now leading Dreamware as an AI-native software engineering practice in New Zealand.
The Network
Dreamware works with a curated network of specialists — design consultants, managed ops providers, specialist engineers — to scale capability without bloating the team. When a project needs more, we bring in trusted people, not a bench of unknowns.
Want to work together?
Whether you need a full build, a technical review, or just a conversation about what's possible — we'd love to hear from you.