South African entrepreneur Serisha Barrat is reshaping Africa’s legal landscape through technology. As cofounder and chief executive of Lawyered Up, she combines law, business, and artificial intelligence to help companies streamline legal operations.

Founded in 2020, Lawyered Up focuses on digitalizing legal services across the continent. The platform uses AI to automate and simplify legal management for small and medium-sized firms as well as large corporations.

Lawyered Up offers an end-to-end solution for contract lifecycle management. It integrates digital workflows to accelerate processes, reduce costs, and ensure regulatory compliance. The system also supports businesses in meeting African business law requirements and advancing environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

Beyond Lawyered Up, Barrat co-founded OPUS in 2023, a collective of entrepreneurs and creators designed to foster idea-sharing and collaboration. She previously launched eCrow Media in 2018, a social media marketing agency where she served as digital marketing director until 2020.

Barrat graduated with a law degree from the University of Witwatersrand in 2015. She began her career at Nedbank in 2013 as promotions assistant, then joined Standard Bank Group in 2015, serving as legal advisor, compliance manager, and corporate lawyer.

In 2018, she moved to Old Mutual Wealth as a legal and compliance analyst. Between 2020 and 2022, she led marketing at Here Marketing and simultaneously worked as marketing director at StartX, a start-up accelerator. From 2023 to April 2025, she was CEO of Boardroom App, a professional networking application.

In 2023, Women in Tech and EQL Her named Barrat among the 50 most influential women in technology. In 2024, the Mail & Guardian ranked her in its annual list of the 200 most promising young South Africans.

This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum