As the world evolves, it is essential that trailblazers continue to break boundaries. This is the story behind the female-led South African team that is driving the development of trusted digital identities across the globe. In an industry long dominated by global giants and male leadership, one South African woman and her predominantly female team have achieved what many said was impossible: building the world’s first fully cloud-based certificate authority (CA) accredited for advanced electronic signatures (AES).
Carrie Peter, Managing Director of Impression Signatures, isn’t just leading a tech company; she’s redefining what’s possible in digital identity, trust infrastructure and female-led innovation – and she did it all before turning 40.
Doing the impossible, together
“When I told the team that some people believed what we had done was impossible, they were surprised – it was the first they had heard of it,” Peter reflects. “If they’d known, they said, it would have been impossible.”
That mindset, free of limitation and full of possibility, is what carried Impression Signatures through one of its most defining challenges. In 2022, just two years after Peter joined as Solution Owner, she took the helm as MD. At the time, the business was facing severe operational challenges. At the same time, it received a mandate from the South African Accreditation Authority (SAAA) to build its own certificate authority, a feat that had never been done in AWS CloudHSM.
Navigating this with no precedent, and at what she describes as “the most difficult time imaginable”, Peter and her team not only delivered… they passed a rigorous WebTrust audit and achieved global recognition.
Female-led, purpose-driven
What makes this achievement even more significant is the team behind it. Impression Signatures is proudly female-led, with a majority female staff, who are redefining what technical excellence looks like in South Africa’s tech landscape.
“Being a woman leader in tech is still one of the greatest professional challenges I’ve faced,” says Peter. “I wish that wasn’t true, but I’m committed to changing that reality for the women coming up behind me.”
Peter believes inclusion isn’t an afterthought – it’s a foundation. “Software is the art of the possible,” she says. “But if it isn’t inclusive, it’s not worth doing.” This belief in inclusive innovation is central to Impression’s technology strategy. The team has engineered its solutions to be “hardened for Africa”, meaning they work seamlessly in environments with limited infrastructure or low-end devices. From USSD to WhatsApp integration, the goal is simple: enable secure participation in the digital economy, regardless of access to high-speed internet or sophisticated hardware.
“Digital trust should be a right, not a privilege,” Peter says. “Our mission is to remove barriers – not just in technology, but in people’s ability to engage in economic activity.”
From local roots to global standards
Peter’s influence doesn’t stop at South Africa’s borders. She now serves as Advocacy Committee Vice-Chair of the Cloud Signature Consortium, helping shape global standards for cloud-based signatures.
Her career spans multiple start-ups and roles. From Business Analyst to Founding Partner at Alpha Data, her career trajectory keenly reflects her passion for building scalable, data-driven solutions that make people’s lives easier… and yet, she remains refreshingly grounded. “I’m a start-up junkie,” she laughs. “But also a veggie gardener, yoga enthusiast, ParkRunner and proud mom.”
A message to the next generation of female leaders
Peter’s advice to young women in tech is practical and empowering: “Never be afraid to reach out to someone who can help you. Communities of like-minded individuals change everything. Just overcoming that one barrier – asking for help – can completely transform your journey.”
She also lives by one of her favourite sayings: “Don’t throw stones at every dog that barks.” Her leadership is shaped not by noise or ego, but by focus, resilience and belief in her team. “Mindset will make or break you,” she says. “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right.”
The legacy she’s building
As Peter turns 40 this month, she’s not reflecting with regret, but with gratitude. “I’m overwhelmed that I got to walk beside my team while they did the impossible,” she wrote recently.
In doing so, she’s paved the way for more women to dream bigger, build boldly and lead without limits – reminding the world that some glass ceilings aren’t just meant to be cracked, they’re meant to be completely obliterated.
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Impression Signatures
Founded in 2011, Impression Signatures (an iOCO company) is the leading provider of e-signature solutions in South Africa. Our patented approach is locally created whilst committing to making this innovative technology available to the public enabling true social inclusion to fully realize digital transformation in South Africa. For more information, visit www.impression-signatures.com.