How do I move from Automotive to Tech?

TLDR; How do I become a strong candidate for an Engineering Manager position at Google (or similar tech company) as a manger in automotive/heavy machinery? Looking for advice for an industry change from SWE for automotive and heavy machinery to Tech (previous job at Daimler/Mercedes Benz, current job at John Deere). YOE: 9yrs TC: $145k I’m a manager at John Deere today (7 direct reports including 1 staff and 1 senior lvl SWE). However I’ve gotten feedback (from a SWE Manager at Google) that I’d have to become an IC SWE or a TPM and work my way back up to a manager position to become a SWE Manager in tech. I love being a people leader and coach but if it helps me get to my goal I’d happily become an IC again. I always enjoyed coding and I get a lot of satisfaction out of influencing without authority so both SWE & TPM roles would make me happy for a period of time. I’m located in the RTP (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC) and Google just announced 1k new jobs, Apple announced 3k. Why the switch you ask? At John Deere my curiosity levels are just not where I need them to be to be at my full potential. I’m wildly curious about the tech space (including but not limited to how that industry would approach an automotive project), thus the desire to eventually switch. Assuming I could somehow get a job offer for both a TPM and SWE role, which one do you think will serve me better on my path to eventually becoming a SWE Manager in #tech ?