Chief Technology Officer

Interesting blog post from Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun, today about the make up of the most senior management team. [I don't know whether the link will work; I picked up the posting via Google Reader, but can't find the content on Sun's website]. He says

"I found myself talking to a group of CEO's after the dinner And I made a simple point - do you have a general counsel reporting to you? The answer was yes, of course. ... And then I asked a harder question: do you have a chief technology officer reporting to you? The answer was more dismissive than substantive. "Why?" And my point to them was this: if you have a general counsel reporting to you, and not a CTO, then you're saying you rely on legal guidance more than technology to grow your business. And if you believe in convergence, you have to believe it doesn't stop at industry segments, it extends well into your Which brings me to a simple, and heretical conclusion: media companies without chief technologists sitting at the same table as the CEO are waiting to become defunct."

I wonder if this might apply to non-media companies as well?