About Jay Leal

Jay Leal is a technology and cyber security expert with over 25 years of experience working in the financial sector. He has been Chief Information Officer for Vantage Bank (San Antonio, TX) since 2019. Prior to this he was the CIO for Inter National Bank (McAllen, TX) and Assistant Vice President for Technology at First National Bank (Edinburg, TX). Jay is responsible for establishing and executing the Bank’s technology initiatives, enterprise project management, and managing the day-to-day operations of the Technology Services Department. He has extensive experience in risk management, compliance with FFIEC and GLBA regulations, along with the development of cyber security best practices within the institution. Jay also serves as the Bank’s Business Continuity Officer and chairs the Technology Committee. Currently, he is working on projects including embedded finance, cloud computing, SD-WAN, AI Copilots, next-gen digital banking, and governance frameworks such as SOC, ISO 27001, and NIST CSF.

The Texas Bankers Association appointed Jay to its Technology Committee in 2016 and later chair of the committee in 2018. He currently serves on the TBA Future of Banking Taskforce which helps identify new initiatives and innovations that help community bankers thrive. He was elected to the board of directors of the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of InfraGard, a national non-profit organization serving as a public-private partnership between U.S. businesses and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Jay was a co-chair of the South Texas College Technology Industry Partnership program and participated in the inaugural Great Conversations Mentorship Program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Jay is a past president of the McAllen South Rotary Club. During his presidency the club and he was recognized with multiple honors including the Rotary International Presidential Citation and the Rotary Foundation Service Award. Jay has also served as president of the Hidalgo-Starr Chapter of the Texas Exes alumni association.

Jay is a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Journalism. He has worked on marketing campaigns, website development, press releases, and photography throughout his career. He is a fifth-generation Texan and is married to Kristina Leal, a professional engineer. Together, they have a young son, Luke, who aspires to also work in technology like his father. Jay and his family call McAllen, Texas home.