[gilfoyle]

Can you be a "VP of Sales" without ever doing any sales? Can you be a head chef without ever cooking?

Sure, you can be immensely impactful being a people leader and a conduit between business and tech without ever having written any code. But you can't call yourself CTO if you haven't written any software yourself without diluting the meaning of the title to homeopathic levels.

[ochronus]

Agreed, experience in the field is a must. But do they need to keep coding, especially in the company? No, I think that's an anti-pattern. They should be busy with getting the business and the tech aligned, shaping culture, shaping hiring and coaching other tech leaders.