About
Built by people who run enquiries for a living
intelID was built by working investigators, not a software house. The workflow exists because the people who designed it were tired of running the same enquiry across eight logins.
The team
Investigative practice, data engineering and software delivery in the same room.
Mike Gillam
Managing Director
Mike is a veteran investigator and the founder of intelID, with over 20 years in policing and high-level investigations behind a practical approach to the platform. He holds a Diploma in Policing and has handled complex criminal and civil matters across both the public and private sectors, with a reputation for precision and discretion.
As Operations Director at one of New Zealand's leading investigative firms and a Certified Fraud Examiner, he specialises in fraud detection, asset tracing and corporate enquiries. In 2023 he was elected a Board Officer of the Council of International Investigators, and he now serves as its Vice-President.
Chris Hofsteede
Software Director
Chris is a highly experienced engineer and data professional, currently working as a Data Scientist. His career spans more than a decade in engineering and infrastructure, including senior commissioning roles on major projects in New Zealand and Europe.
He holds a BE(Hons)/BCom in Mechanical Engineering and Finance from the University of Auckland.
Matthew Armstrong
Technical Lead
Matthew is a software developer with a background in private investigation. He began his career working under Mike Gillam, gaining first-hand experience of investigative work before moving into technology.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Auckland and works primarily with React, PHP and SQL. His experience bridges investigative knowledge and technical delivery.
Alex Hofsteede
Technical Advisor
Alex is a software engineer with over two decades of experience as a full stack engineer. He has worked as a lead engineer at Google, a Principal Engineer at Sentry, and at Mixpanel he led the design and performance of distributed databases.
His expertise is in robust backend infrastructure and system efficiency.
Professional standing
Memberships and credentials held by Mike Gillam, Managing Director of intelID.
Council of International Investigators
Certified member and current Vice President of the CII, an international association of vetted investigators with admission by peer review.
thecii.netCertified Fraud Examiner
Credentialled by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, covering fraud examination, financial transactions and investigative law.
acfe.comPSPLA licence, Ministry of Justice
Licensed under the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Act 2010 by the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority.
justice.govt.nzNew Zealand Institute of Professional Investigators
Member of the NZIPI, the professional body for licensed investigators practising in New Zealand.
nzipi.org.nz
Provenance
intelID was built by a working private investigator. Four decades of casework sit behind the way the platform is structured: how a subject is resolved, what order the sources are read in, and what has to be recorded so a file stands up later. None of that came out of a product workshop. It came out of files that were tested by opposing counsel, by insurers and by clients who did not want to hear the answer.
The director of intelID is a Certified Fraud Examiner, a former New Zealand Police officer, and Vice President of the Council of International Investigators. Compliance decisions on this platform are made by someone who has had to justify an enquiry in front of people who were not inclined to accept it, which is why the authorised-purpose declaration and the audit record are compulsory rather than optional extras.
Why we built it
The problem was ours before it was anyone else's.
A single trace could involve a credit bureau portal, the Companies Office, LINZ, a valuation provider, the PPSR and two insolvency registers. Each had its own login, its own billing, its own export format and its own idea of how a name should be written. The actual investigative work sat inside perhaps a fifth of the time spent; the rest went on navigation and reconciliation.
The compliance problem was worse. Every one of those portals recorded its own searches, and none of them recorded why. Reconstructing the basis for a query six months later meant matching a timestamp to a diary note and hoping the note was written. Consolidating the search also consolidated the record, and that turned out to be the more valuable half of the idea.
Where we position ourselves
We do not compete on the price of a single search.
Breadth of integrated sources
Credit, company, title, security interest, insolvency, directory and digital footprint data in one enquiry.
Auditable compliance
Authorised-purpose declaration and full audit logging on every query, for every user.
Investigator-built workflow
The search sequence follows how a file is actually worked, not how a database is structured.
Industry standing
Professional accountability is the reason data providers deal with us.
Membership of the Council of International Investigators carries vetting and a code of ethics, and the Certified Fraud Examiner credential carries continuing professional education and disciplinary exposure. Those obligations apply to the person making decisions about what this platform will and will not do with New Zealand personal information.
We work alongside licensed private investigators, law firms, recovery and finance businesses, insurers, corporate risk and AML teams and process servers, all of whom carry their own regulatory obligations. The audiences we build for are set out under who we serve, and the framework we operate under is described on the compliance page and the security page.
The company
intelID Limited is a New Zealand registered company, number 8630146, based in Auckland and operating nationwide. It is New Zealand owned and operated, and the platform is hosted on Google Cloud Platform. The platform itself is a separate, access-controlled application. This website sells the platform; it does not host it.
intelID LimitedSuite 1259917b Farnham StreetParnellAuckland 1052New ZealandPlans and prices are published in full on the pricing page, and the search workflow is described on the platform page. There is no self-service signup at any price.
Request access to intelID
Tell us who you are and what you need to search, and we will set up your account. Verification is part of the process and usually straightforward. Most accounts are verified and issued within 2 business days.