“The best mistake of my life”: valuing the human element in a context of artificial perfection

Featuring testimonies from different players in the advertising industry, this article seeks not only to reclaim human error as an inherent part of going through life, but also to celebrate everything that happens, and also what doesn't, thanks to our deeply human mistakes.

One of the biggest challenges right now for almost every industry, and for culture in general, in times of AI, is proving that humanity is still latent.

The Edge 2026 report, from Omnicom's Backslash division, explains this challenge under the subtitle Proof of human, something like "proof of humanity".

While artificial intelligence prides itself on its perfection, perhaps it is time to reclaim the inherent imperfection of the human being.

If we constantly receive what is perfect from a mechanized, predetermined, programmed “other”—that is, AI—we stop being open to the newness that the unpredictable and imperfect brings. That is where a plurality of unknown possibilities hide, things that might not even fit in our imagination and that we discard without having even tested them. Because AI anticipates and returns a constant and iterated perfection in its answers, which does not open new paths.

Based on these premises, and on the basis that “if you don't make mistakes, you don't learn,” Adlatina invited different industry professionals to share with our audience key moments in their careers where a mistake allowed for a discovery.

For Andrea Corvetto, managing director of Circus Grey Peru, the question takes her back to a mistake from over fifteen years ago. "In 2009 I made one of the biggest professional mistakes of my career. I was just starting out and came from the emerging digital world. I still didn't really understand how ATL advertising processes worked. During the filming of a TV commercial I skipped almost the entire process with the production and creative team. I personally quoted, reviewed and approved things like the shooting, art and even references. Me, an account person. Yes, terrible. A colleague noticed and, completely surprised, told me: 'You have to review that with the production and creative team. They are going to kill you.' At that moment I seriously thought I was going to be fired and I started crying."

However, she adds: "Luckily we were able to fix a lot of things by getting production and the creative directors involved in time—and fortunately the client never found out. My boss, obviously, gave me a wake-up call, but instead of punishing me, he gave me very clear feedback. He told me that there is no worse question than the one not asked, that I shouldn't take on processes I didn't know, and that making mistakes was also part of learning."

Every mistake brings a lesson. In Corvetto's case, that episode taught her several things that, she says, still accompany her: "That knowing a lot about one area—in my case, digital—doesn't mean knowing everything. That we shouldn't skimp on communication when we work: always ask, touch base, ask for opinions. And that even within a big mistake there can be a huge learning opportunity: in that process I learned a lot about production, something that helped me on many projects later. When I remember that anecdote, I think that making a mistake isn't always failing: sometimes it's the fastest way to learn."

For his part, Matías Rulo Asencio, COO of La América, shares a teenage anecdote that defined the professional he is today: "Finishing high school and making the decision to start studying law was what I call 'The best mistake of my life.' Because very early on I learned that intuition knows things that reason doesn't. Deep down I had no doubt that what I still do today and love doing was the profession I had to choose. Of course, getting a university degree, building a career, pursuing a doctorate, and I don't know how many other achievements were rational arguments that annihilated that inner voice telling me how beautiful it would be to observe human behavior, connect dots to reach an idea, and tell stories in just a few words or seconds."

"Intuition and reason fought a tough battle that lasted months, which included a vocational test, conversations with lawyers, and a very well-thought-out list of pros and cons. Reason won the fight, and I quickly found myself buying a copy of the civil code. As soon as I left the bookstore I knew everything ahead was going to be hard, since it meant telling mom and dad that I was going to drop out of the degree I had started just days ago to dedicate myself to doing what I dreamed of. Since that time, I always let the left hemisphere take the lead and do its job, bring data, compare, analyze, and reach its conclusions. But with that on the table—or rather in my head—my best friend intuition is always the one who has the final word," Asencio concludes.

Finally, Rodrigo Greco, general creative director of Isla Agency, also affirms that perfection is a mistake and details it with a campaign that proved it perfectly: "I have no doubt that perfection is a mistake. It is a trap. It is boring. It leads us by the hand to the expected. And it is dangerously comfortable for the industry. Anyone who has sat down to think or bounce ideas around knows that great ideas usually come from 'stupid' places. They come from a bad joke, from an absurdity, from breaking a logic that works. Or at least worked. I believe that making mistakes is an obligation to reach new places. To unexpected thoughts. Sorry for the self-reference. But several years ago, I think in my second year at the agency, when AI only existed in sci-fi books and movies, we had to work on a project for Magistral, a well-known dishwashing detergent. A category in which humor practically did not exist. Near the presentation day, we had many ideas. None good. Until out of nowhere, a joke came out about a badly washed plate in which the food was mixed and that is how Choriflan was born. A commercial completely out of the brand's tone, outside the brief, and even, outside of good taste. Well, that campaign not only won at Cannes in 2011, but every certain number of years, it is shared again on TikTok by thousands of people who cannot believe how something so bizarre and funny went on air. That joke was a 'mistake'. It did not follow any brand logic nor was it very smart. Fortunately, it was not what we were looking for."