A de-identification system is described herein for converting original messages into de-identified messages. The de-identification system leverages original message-inception-functionality which operates as a gateway for providing original messages for use by a production environment. Namely, the de-identification system includes a transformation module that receives the original messages from the original message-inception functionality. The transformation module then converts instances of sensitive information contained in the original messages into non-sensitive information, to produce the de-identified messages. A de-identified environment can consume the de-identified messages with high confidence that the messages have been properly sanitized. This is because the de-identification work has been performed at a well-contained quarantine level of the message processing functionality.