Many tech-forward schools of thought would probably suggest that status of work is something that should be discoverable - ie, we shouldn't need a status update

Many tech-forward schools of thought would probably suggest that status of work is something that should be discoverable - ie, we shouldn't need a status update meeting because the status is obvious from looking at tasks on a Kanban board or some other tool that is used for tracking work. I'd guess the person you're replying to believes more that meetings are a poor way to accomplish this than that a pulse on work isn't important to business.