Tides, tech and taking the helm

By Natalie Bruckner

Five years ago, Brant Chlebowski (MBA '23) could never imagined he'd be working for a company that builds “robot boats” for clients like the Canadian Armed Forces and Coastal First Nations. 

At the time, he was running a seaweed aquaculture venture in California and supplying native seaweeds to chefs. The business had real momentum until COVID, when restaurants and his volunteer research team were deemed non-essential and a major red tide wiped out his crops. “Everything shifted at once. I realized I needed a reset,” Brant says. 

That reset brought him to Victoria, and to the UVic MBA in Sustainable Innovation because “it matched what I knew I truly cared about: ocean, technology and bringing new ideas from research into real-world application,” he says. Today, Brant is director of strategy and growth at Shift Coastal Technologies in Nanaimo, a company that builds uncrewed surface vessels capable of operating autonomously in open ocean conditions.

Q: The ocean seems to show up again and again in your career. Was that intentional? 

I was born in Santa Monica and grew up in Los Angeles. The ocean was where I went to decompress from school. Later, my family moved further south in the county, closer to the water, and the ocean became more present in everyday life. It started with activities like Junior Lifeguards and surfing. This year marks 30 years of surfing for me. The ocean has been a long-standing personal passion and a consistent motivation. 

Q: How did this show up in your professional life? 

I went to The University of California San Diego and studied environmental systems. Being around Scripps Institution of Oceanography was transformative. It’s one of the oldest and most important oceanographic institutions in the world, and suddenly I could knock on doors, volunteer and see graduate students and researchers working on the water. That exposure made an ocean-focused career tangible. 

Q: You’ve taken a few different career turns along the way. When you look back, does it all feel connected somehow? 

After school I couldn't find a job directly in ocean science, so I went into tech startups. I learned technology by selling it. It was fast-paced and performance-driven. That startup experience became a recurring theme. I stayed connected to academia at Scripps and UC San Diego as a volunteer, student, staff researcher and later entrepreneur-in-residence. I appreciated academia's focus on knowledge and discovery, which contrasted with the startup world's focus on revenue and survival. Those two tracks ran in parallel for me. Then came the pandemic and moving to Victoria was a leap of faith. 

Q: You've described the MBA as a reset after a difficult period. What were you hoping to get out of it? 

I wanted a structured way to think about business. Coming from startups, I had learned by doing, often the fast and hard way. The MBA helped me think systematically about design, strategy and organizational development. It also reinforced the importance of community. The cohort became my first network in Canada, and those relationships were critical for navigating a new place and new professional opportunities.  

Q: You created your current role from scratch. What role did the MBA play in making that possible? 

I met the Shift team at a networking event and later followed up, reflecting on where I thought I could add value. I proposed a short-term contract to tackle those gaps. After that, they offered me a full-time position. The MBA gave me the confidence to operate across disciplines and manage ambiguity. I could listen to what the company needed, reflect it back to the CEO and propose a way I could help. The frameworks and processes I learned helped me articulate my value clearly.   

Q: How has your understanding of sustainable innovation evolved? 

Before the MBA, I saw sustainability mostly through an environmental lens. That still matters, but I've come to see it as much broader. It includes financial resilience and culture, making sure organizations and people can thrive over the long term. Innovation is as much about new business models and organizational structures as it is about technology. In the ocean context, safety plays a part in that. Deploying autonomous systems reduces risk for humans in dangerous environments. If technology improves safety, efficiency and operational impact while supporting the people doing the work, that is meaningful sustainable innovation. 

Q: You mention that the reconciliation dimension of your work caught you a little off guard.

I arrived in Canada fairly naïve about the history and complexity. I was surprised to learn that in British Columbia alone there are more than 200 coastal First Nations. Working with Coastal First Nations has been about practical collaboration and supporting them in ways they define. There’s shared questions between all our clients: how do you keep humans out of harm’s way in a challenging ocean environment? How do you move people away from dull, dirty, dangerous jobs? If you can send something uncrewed as the first line, you reduce risk. 

Q: What would you tell someone sitting on the fence about doing the MBA?

One of the most meaningful things I heard during orientation was about mastery. Patrick Kelly, who is on the Gustavson dean's advisory council, explained that earning a master’s degree isn’t the achievement itself, it’s the assignment. Students often feel pressure to absorb everything and be fully prepared by the end, but you’re not finishing something, you’re starting something. You’re going to leave with better questions, not final answers. 

Q: And finally, where can we find you in your spare time?

I joined Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue somewhat unexpectedly. I was looking for a way to contribute to the community, to keep building on that connection with the water. Surfing is still a huge part of my life, but it just takes more effort here with thicker wetsuits, a drive, a hike . . . but the challenge is part of the appeal, because where else do you get to paddle among whales and see waterfalls tumbling off cliffs?