There's no such thing as 'developer ROI'

Engineering productivity can't be quantified in dollar terms as developer work is creative, non-standardized, and highly variable based on individual skills and tasks. Traditional productivity metrics, like ROI or utilization rates used in other departments, aren't suitable for engineering. Instead, engineering should be managed as critical infrastructure with goals tailored to its unique nature. Efforts should focus on enabling creativity and understanding engineering work as interconnected and evolving, rather than trying to measure it through oversimplified metrics.