They're not saying they don't need to have technical experience, they're saying they don't need to be a current technical domain expert. Of course they need to

They're not saying they don't need to have technical experience, they're saying they don't need to be a current technical domain expert. Of course they need to understand how software products are created, but they don't need to know to optimise your DB queries. That may not be the case at a small 5 person startup, but at a larger scale with a full division underneath you shouldn't be getting involved in the nitty gritty of why the database fell over. You should be making sure the engineering teams are being given the space to have those discussions, learn from it, and improve. The CFO of a similar sized company isn't sitting down and running payroll. They're talking about strategies to re-organise budgets to enable product or territory expansion. Or they're looking at the decisions leaders of a potential acquisition have made, and whether they stack up to the top level figures. Both roles are fundamentally business and people focused roles. They require the holder to take leadership of a specific area (technical, financial, or what have you) and run it efficiently to server the business goals. That requires you to have a good understanding of the area. The more you have the more likely you are to succeed, but you won't be writing code as a CTO. In the same way the CFO won't be running the tax calculations for payroll that month. Not once you're past 50 or so people in your division.