Custom software, built properly.
Digital Dreams is a small Auckland studio that builds web applications, customer portals, integrations, and cloud systems. Led by a senior engineer with over a decade of production work in insurance, education, and SaaS.
Software that real people rely on every day.
Available for new work
Replies within one business day
Senior engineer led
You talk to the person building it
What we build
Most of our work falls into one of these six areas. If your project doesn't fit neatly, ask anyway. The list describes the common cases, not the limits.
- Customer self-service portals
- Internal tools & admin dashboards
- React / Next.js / TypeScript
- REST API design & build
- Payment & banking integrations
- Third-party system connections
- Azure migration & architecture
- Terraform infrastructure
- CI/CD pipelines
- .NET framework upgrades
- Incremental rewrites, not big bangs
- Database migrations
- Claude, OpenAI & Azure AI integration
- Document & data processing
- Internal agents & copilots
- Fixed-scope first versions
- Architecture that can grow later
- Launch and iterate support
The tools we work in every day
This list is short on purpose. We'd rather know a focused stack deeply than learn yours on your invoice.
Frontend
Interfaces people actually enjoy using, on any screen size.
Backend
APIs and services that stay fast and predictable under load.
Cloud & DevOps
Infrastructure as code, automated deploys, sensible monitoring.
Databases
Relational where it matters, document stores where they fit.
AI & Automation
LLM features built into real products, not demo notebooks.
CMS & Content
Content platforms your marketing team can run without us.
How we work
Our process is deliberately boring: clear scope, short feedback loops, and working software in your hands early. Surprises belong in birthdays, not invoices.
Every project starts with a short discovery: what you need, what it touches, and what it should cost. You get a written scope and estimate before anyone writes a line of code.
No account managers relaying messages. You deal directly with the engineer responsible for your project, so questions get answered in hours instead of meetings.
If an off-the-shelf product solves your problem for $50 a month, we'll say so before you spend thousands on a custom build. We'd rather lose a project than ship something you didn't need.
The three projects we run most often
Most clients come to us with one of these. Each follows a process we've refined on real projects, so you know what happens next at every stage.
Legacy System Modernisation
Replacing an old system in stages, so the business keeps running while the new one takes shape underneath it.
Assessment & Strategy
Comprehensive analysis of existing systems and business needs
Incremental Modernization
Phased approach to minimize risk and validate outcomes
Knowledge Transfer
Ensuring your team can maintain and extend the modernized system
Modernised in stages, not big-bang rewrites.
Performance Gain
Measured against baseline
On Azure, with costs you can actually predict.
Scalable Architecture
Future-proof design
Cloud Migration & Optimisation
Moving on-premise systems to Azure without losing data, uptime, or your weekend. Then tuning the bill afterwards.
Cloud Readiness Assessment
Evaluating infrastructure and applications for cloud compatibility
Migration & Optimization
Secure transition with continuous optimization for cost and performance
Ongoing Management
Continuous monitoring, security, and optimization services
Adding AI to an Existing Product
A measured way to add LLM-powered features to your product or workflows, starting with a small pilot instead of betting the roadmap.
Find the right use case
Look at your data and workflows to find where AI saves real time, and where it doesn't
Build a small pilot
A working feature with real data, scoped in weeks not quarters, so you can judge it on results
Roll out what works
Harden the pilot for production, train your team on it, and retire what didn't earn its place
Pilot first. Production when it earns it.
Judged on results
Not on demos
What we're good at
Four areas where we've done enough projects to have opinions:
Full-Stack Development
React and Next.js front ends on .NET or Node back ends. We've built customer portals and agent tools that thousands of people use daily.
Cloud Architecture
Azure infrastructure designed and managed with Terraform, from single-app setups to multi-tenant SaaS platforms. Resilient without being gold-plated.
AI & Automation
LLM integrations with Claude, OpenAI, and Azure AI, plus document processing and internal agents. Built into products, with tests and monitoring like any other feature.
Systems Integration
Payment gateways, banking feeds, currency APIs, legacy databases. We've integrated Windcave, Akahu, and Oanda into production systems, among others.
Have a project in mind?
Tell us what you're trying to build. We'll come back with an honest read on scope, cost, and the fastest way to get it live. The first conversation costs nothing.
Industries we've actually worked in
We won't claim experience in every sector. These are the ones where we've shipped real systems and learned the rules the hard way.
Insurance & Financial Services
Years spent building customer portals, agent tooling, and payment integrations inside the NZ insurance industry. We know what compliance reviews actually ask for.
Industry Challenges
- •Legacy policy systems
- •Payment & banking integrations
- •Self-service expectations
- •Audit & compliance trails
Our Solutions
- •Customer self-service portals
- •Agent & broker tooling
- •Windcave, Akahu & Oanda integrations
- •Staged legacy modernisation
Education
We co-built a student management system used by NZ schools and a moderation portal used by Māori medium schools nationwide.
Industry Challenges
- •Student information management
- •Reporting to ministries
- •Administrative workload
- •Tight budgets
Our Solutions
- •Student management systems
- •Moderation & assessment portals
- •Administrative automation
- •Reporting dashboards
SaaS & Startups
We built and launched our own multi-tenant SaaS under Microsoft for Startups, so we've made the architecture mistakes on our own budget instead of yours.
Industry Challenges
- •Multi-tenant architecture
- •Shipping fast without rework later
- •Privacy Act compliance
- •Cloud costs at small scale
Our Solutions
- •MVP builds scoped to budget
- •Multi-tenant Azure architecture
- •Subscription & billing integration
- •Privacy-by-design data handling
Manufacturing & IoT
Development experience at an IoT startup in the manufacturing space: production monitoring, device data, and the systems that make sense of both.
Industry Challenges
- •Device & sensor data
- •Production visibility
- •Quality control
- •Legacy plant systems
Our Solutions
- •Production monitoring platforms
- •IoT data pipelines
- •Quality assurance tooling
- •Plant system integrations
Professional Services
Our own SaaS serves NZ immigration advisers, a heavily regulated profession. Client management, document workflows, and compliance are familiar ground.
Industry Challenges
- •Client & case management
- •Document-heavy workflows
- •Regulatory record keeping
- •Manual admin processes
Our Solutions
- •Client management systems
- •Document automation
- •Compliance workflow tooling
- •Client-facing portals
Retail & E-commerce
Online stores, inventory tools, and the integrations between them. Usually less about the storefront and more about the systems behind it.
Industry Challenges
- •Storefront & inventory sync
- •Payment processing
- •Peak-period scalability
- •Customer data in silos
Our Solutions
- •E-commerce platform builds
- •Inventory management systems
- •Payment gateway integration
- •Customer analytics dashboards
Working in a different industry?
Most of what makes a software project succeed carries across sectors: clear scope, good data handling, and someone who asks the awkward questions early. Tell us what you're dealing with and we'll tell you honestly whether we're a good fit.
Araavi.dev — Learn to Code the Way the Industry Actually Works Now
The same workflow we use on client projects, taught to the next generation of developers. A 10-week mentor-led batch on Microsoft Teams, built for students and fresh grads who'd rather learn 2026 skills than 2016 ones.
Don't just learn to code. Learn to ship.
Three deployed projects on your own domain — before you ever sit an interview.
AI-first toolchain
Cursor, Claude Code, MCP servers, Copilot Studio agents — taught by someone shipping them in production.
Real-world full-stack
React, Next.js, Node, .NET, Python, Azure, Postgres, Cosmos DB. Pick the lane that fits the role you want.
Mentor-led, small group
10-week batch, weekly 1:1, three deployed projects on your own domain. Pick what you build, or get matched.
Support that doesn't end
Interview prep, resume review, referrals, async questions — until you land a role. No fixed timeline.
Know a student or fresh grad ready to go AI-first?
Free 2-hour workshop runs monthly. Pricing for the cohort is shared at the end of the workshop. No job guarantee — but support until you land a role.
Who you'll be working with
Digital Dreams is founder-led from Auckland, with a development team in Bangalore. Here's who's behind it and how the work actually gets done.
Founder's Journey
Prem Sager
Founder & Lead Engineer
The beginning
I moved from India to New Zealand in 2015 and have been building software here ever since. Early on that meant a student management system for NZ schools and a moderation portal used by Māori medium schools nationwide, then development at an IoT startup in manufacturing.
The work since
In the insurance sector I built a customer self-service portal used by thousands of policyholders, an agent portal the sales team uses daily, and led a public website rebuild from legacy .NET to Next.js. That's where I learned what production-grade actually means: someone calls you when it breaks.
AI, used where it earns its place
These days a lot of my work involves AI: building agents with Copilot Studio, integrating Claude and OpenAI into business workflows, and running workshops that get dev teams past the hype. I treat AI features like any other feature, with tests, monitoring, and a clear answer to "what does this save us?"
Why Digital Dreams
I started Digital Dreams because most businesses don't need a big consultancy; they need someone senior who'll scope honestly, build properly, and stick around after launch. We also build our own products: Araavi, a SaaS for NZ immigration advisers developed under Microsoft for Startups, which keeps us honest about what shipping software really costs.
Where we work from
New Zealand
Auckland
India
Bangalore
What we handle in-house
Full-stack builds in React, .NET and Node
Interfaces designed around real workflows
Azure infrastructure, Terraform, CI/CD
Tested before you see it, not after
How the team is set up
One accountable owner
Every project is owned by a senior engineer in Auckland who scopes it, architects it, and answers for it. You always know who to call, and they always know your codebase.
An extended working day
The Bangalore team's hours start as Auckland's afternoon winds down. Work raised in your afternoon is often ready for review by your next morning. Everything ships through the same review process regardless of who wrote it.
Local contact, sensible rates
You get an NZ-based engineer who can meet you in Auckland, on NZ hours, with a delivery model that keeps rates well under what the big agencies charge for the same work.
Auckland
- Scoping & client contact
- Architecture & code review
- Hands-on development
- Delivery management
Bangalore
- Development capacity
- Quality assurance
- DevOps & infrastructure
- UI implementation
Notes from real projects
Things we've learned shipping software and AI features for actual businesses. Written by the people doing the work, not a content team.
Tell us what you're trying to build
Describe the problem in plain language. We'll reply within a business day with an honest read on scope, rough cost, and whether we're the right fit.
Free 30-minute project call
Pick a time that suits you
Bring your idea, your half-finished spec, or just the problem. You'll leave the call knowing roughly what it takes to build, even if you don't build it with us.
Book a CallEmail Us
info@digitaldreams.co.nz
Call Us
+64 27 511 3822