Alexa Rae Torres
Lexi Paynter is a Senior Manager of IT Operations based in the Austin, Texas metropolitan area, where she leads enterprise IT service delivery, production support, and modernization initiatives. With over a decade of technical experience and a strong foundation in IT operations leadership, she specializes in cloud infrastructure, automation, and IT service management. Her work focuses on transforming traditional IT environments into efficient, scalable, and AI-enabled operations that align closely with business goals.
Throughout her career, Lexi has built deep expertise in ITIL frameworks, AWS cloud technologies, and enterprise monitoring tools such as Datadog, using them to improve uptime, reduce manual workloads, and strengthen operational resilience. She has held progressive leadership roles at Continental General and earlier organizations, including service desk and IT operations management positions, where she built teams, standardized processes, and implemented automation strategies. She is also experienced in enterprise change management, vendor negotiation, and cross-functional collaboration across infrastructure, security, and application development teams.
Beyond her technical leadership, Lexi is a strong advocate for innovation, mentorship, and inclusion in technology. She is actively involved in professional communities such as Austin Women in Technology and Northshore Women in Business, where she supports the advancement of women in tech and leadership. Currently, she is focused on driving the shift from AI-augmented operations to AI-driven systems, while ensuring her teams are reskilled and empowered to grow alongside emerging technologies.
• SCC Certification
• Texas A&M University- B.S.
• Texas Woman's University- M.B.A.
• University of North Texas- M.S.
• Difference Maker Award from Transocean Deepwater Drilling Crew
• Women in Energy
• Women's Resource Center
• Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics
• She Aggie Alumni at Texas A&M
• Volunteers with Rescue Pet Movement Houston
• Rescue Pet Movement (RPM) in Houston
What do you attribute your success to?
Good parents. Honestly, I think it started foundationally in being told I could do anything. It didn't matter if I was a woman, or Hispanic, or anything. It's just, what do you want to do? And then it was, how do we get you there? I was just really supported, and I think that now I support as an adult, because I come from a place where I was cultivated. I'm not self-made - I think that's probably the most important thing to say - I'm not self-made, and I realize that, and now I try to make others. I saw this quote online that said, I had parents who cheered so loud, I didn't even hear the haters. I didn't know they were there. And that's how I felt about it. My dad said, you're smarter than everyone, you can do it. He was an engineer, and he said some of the smartest women I've ever met have been engineers. So they're smarter than me, I'm just a man, and that's not fair. So you change it. If you don't like something, you change it.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
It was from Flash Dixon, from Whole Foods. I was actually working at Whole Foods when I was in college, and he said, when you treat people like they make a difference, they do. That has really stuck with me. My dad also had a quote, and it was, only when you connect with somebody do you deserve to be of influence. I think that every single day - until you genuinely connect with somebody, you do not deserve, as a leader, to be of influence to them in their life, and where they go next. Because some of these kids depend on this. How far can I get them? Am I really gonna hold them back so that I make more money? No. We're just a piece of life. I am not life. I am a piece of it. I'm a piece of the puzzle. And I'm gonna be a positive piece.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I'd say it's really important to know yourself. I think other people's definitions of us, we have to learn to shed that skin that I think women carry - the worry of what does this look like? How is this being perceived? Was that nice enough? If I'm doing the right thing, I don't have to backtrack into wondering if it was the right thing. I say it, it leaves my mouth, and I'm done with that thought. I think that knowing myself and carrying that confidence into these rooms where a lot of people, especially younger people, get in this mentality of, like, oh, am I faking it till I make it? No. It's not fake it till you make it. Nobody knows. And I think that when we are honest about that, by saying, oh my god, nobody knows, it's not fake it till you make it, I'm just - I believe in myself. I believe in my ability to sit in this office and learn. I believe in my ability to make a team that's smarter than me, and surround myself with that team. And I believe in my ability to move every one of them into higher positions. But all of that starts with a belief in myself.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Men, men, men. I think that it's an inherent bias that the industry carries. I think it's a known bias that women aren't typically in a construction setting, and I think that maybe that is a reality to some extent, but I think the lens of what someone else carries of what I am capable of is probably the most frustrating, because that's not fair. I don't assume what anybody's capabilities are. I look for them, and if I see a chance to improve them, then I double down on that, because I want them to be better. What has ailed me the most is kind of this preconceived notion that women don't belong in oil and gas. I think when I got into the industry, we have the typical fears of, you know, do I belong here? The lens that someone else carries of what I am capable of - I don't assume what anybody's capabilities are. I look for them, and if I see a chance to improve them, then I double down on that.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think there's a lot that matter, but I think integrity is going to be number one, because if you don't have that, none of the other matter, right? If you don't have courage and integrity to utilize them when it's tough, I don't think any of the others matter. I have to say that courage and integrity are most important. I think it's important to always do the right thing, and let what we do, how I am, speak for itself. I don't worry about ego - that's ego, when we're typically talking about what I'm capable of. And that's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to ask how I can support you, and then the tone changes. I won't let the worst parts of them change the best parts of me.