Standards are essential to API operations and API governance. Internet, industry, and enterprise standards should be the defining quality of API operations. APIs begin with HTTP, then layer on JSON, OpenAPI, JSON Schema, Spectral, and other Internet and industry standards. The rest is up to you, but all roads should lead toward standardization, it is up to you how much of these standards are Internet, industry, and enterprise.
Using standards throughout your APIs will reduce friction and save you money across your operations.