The issue is that if you're not technical CTO in a tech company, that is you can replace a senior engineer[1], then absolutely no one will respect you. The CTO

The issue is that if you're not technical CTO in a tech company, that is you can replace a senior engineer[1], then absolutely no one will respect you. The CTO absolutely must be technical, not just because of respect, but also because other C-level execs need someone to explain simple things to them. If not, then you end up like Intel. [1]: not as in be CTO and do a workload of senior engineer, but rather "if you weren't a CTO, would you be hired as a senior?"