Delivering a project on time usually means you need to leverage as much existing technology as possible. Every decision you make that leads to a custom implementation must consider that you also need to maintain your own solution. This is why open-source tools like Strapi are the way to go for building the REST API for your next project.
Strapi is a state-of-the-art headless CMS. It allows you to define your schema with a graphical interface, so even non-technical people can model data. Your development team can focus on building web and mobile apps and delivering new features without worrying about the backend implementation. After all, a big open-source community maintains Strapi.