Abhinav Asthana on technology ROI
From On Building Trustworthy Fintech Platforms at Scale | From CTO of Redwood Trust · · Mala's Podcast
“When someone was talking about ROI and how AI impacts ROI in my case as a tech leader on the CTO job we evaluate tech as what's the impact to GAAP earnings available for distribution and ROE (return on equity). There's no other math that matters.”
On , Abhinav Asthana, Chief Technology Officer at REDWOOD TRUST INC, spoke about technology ROI during On Building Trustworthy Fintech Platforms at Scale | From CTO of Redwood Trust on Mala's Podcast.
About Abhinav Asthana
Abhinav Asthana, co-founder and former CEO of Postman, has taken on the role of Chief Technology Officer at Redwood Trust, a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). In a February 2026 interview, he discussed his transition from early data science work in Formula 1 to leading technology at a financial services firm. He stated that as a tech leader, he evaluates technology based on its impact on GAAP earnings available for distribution and return on equity (ROE), adding that "there's no other math that matters." He also noted that as a REIT, Redwood is required to pay 90% of its profits in dividends and is regulated to invest only in the U.S. Asthana has continued to speak about the evolution of APIs and artificial intelligence. At the POST/CON 25 keynote in June 2025, he said that foundation models are "starting to feel pretty interchangeable" and that "the real action now isn't in the models, it's in how we use them," pointing to the rise of AI agents. He described APIs as "the execution layer of AI." In earlier appearances, he discussed Postman's growth from a side project to a company valued at $5.6 billion, used by about 35 million developers and half a million organizations. He stated that Postman's mission is to "create 100 million connected developers and bring the vision of an API first world to life." He has also advised founders that "caution is good but you cannot operate from a position of fear" and that companies must invest in growth rather than simply trying to survive.