When Dan Wright joined San Francisco-based application performance management company AppDynamics, his title was director of legal. It was his first in-house role, but Wright quickly climbed the ranks—moving to general counsel in just under three years and chief operating officer in four.

He’s one of a number of tech legal leaders moving into operational roles, notably including Airbnb’s Belinda Johnson. Corporate Counsel spoke with Wright about his growth at AppDynamics from GC to COO. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.