Qintel: Pittsburgh’s Quiet Force in the Fight Against Global Threats

For most Pittsburghers, Qintel is the company with the big sign on the North Side skyline. For their numerous federal partners across law enforcement, the intelligence community, and the Department of War, it is something else entirely: a data technology-driven threat intelligence company supporting national security to help make sense of a world full of fast-moving threats.

We reached out to Damon Mathews, Senior Director of National Security Operations to demystify Qintel.  He describes the company as a “data technology company at heart,” but that label only hints at the scale of what it does as a data technology company that provides threat intelligence. Qintel builds and delivers a global threat intelligence solution by combining data collection, processing, integration, management, visualization, AI-driven analytics, tools, and software development into one continuously innovating and evolving solution.  The goal is to give government partners what Damon calls “decision dominance” in an environment where the volume, complexity, and speed of threats never stop accelerating.

The company was founded in Pittsburgh, been in business for about 17 years and is a small cleared defense contractor. The CEO William Schambura, is a Pittsburgh native who graduated from Woodland Hills High School in 1996 and University of Pittsburgh 2000/2002.  Damon says Qintel accomplished everything as a private company with no outside investment.  That makes it even more incredible since establishing a recent enterprise-wide partnership with U.S. Cyber Command under a sole source prime contract with an overall ceiling in the $85 million range over a base period plus several option years. While Damon was careful not to get into specifics or classified aspects, he makes clear that Qintel’s multi-use solution supports a broad range of cyber, intelligence, and operational missions.

What sets the company apart, he says, is not just the breadth of its offering but the people, culture, and business model behind it. Qintel does not simply hand over software and walk away. Instead, it keeps innovating, updating, and evolving the solution for partners over time, much like the steady stream of updates users expect from their smartphones. In a federal environment where agencies often pay separately for those capabilities, that approach makes Qintel a very different kind of partner. 

Just as important is the mission. Qintel helps federal agencies confront nation-state, non-nation state, terrorist groups, international criminal organizations, and hard law enforcement problems including child exploitation and human trafficking. For Damon, that work is deeply personal and deeply motivating. It is about using technology to help stop some of the worst actors in the world and "Make bad things happen to bad people." 

And while Qintel’s work is global, Damon says Pittsburgh is exactly the right place for it. With its technical talent, research ecosystem, and support from organizations like the Pittsburgh Technology Council and U.S> Senator Dave McCormick, the region continues to prove that some of the country’s most important innovation is happening right here at home.

Additional information can be found at Sam.gov or contact the U.S. Cyber Command PAO Office.

For more information on Qintel, contact them at www.qintel.com