IMO the architect-leader role is an attempt at scratching the itch of not being able to code. I've worked with leaders that would spend any extra time they had building projects in new frontier tech to understand the nuances behind the marketing, and I'm sure we've all worked with folks that blindly parrot the marketing speak in design meetings.
You don't have to always be building things to be a great leader, but I place more trust in a company with a technical CTO.
I can build POCs, or I can just come up with high level ideas and ask my most senior architects to do the research and build the POC to see if my ideas are feasible.
And I avoid “frontier tech” as often as possible. I want to base my implementation on proven technology with a healthy ecosystem. I don’t want to use “frontier tech” just to read a blog post six months later about “our amazing journey”.
You don't have to always be building things to be a great leader, but I place more trust in a company with a technical CTO.