[6][7] Kaladze started his football career in 1993 at Umaglesi Liga club Dinamo Tbilisi and made 82 appearances in a five-year spell.

His brother was kidnapped in a high-profile case in 2001 and officially declared dead in 2006, resulting in two men being sentenced to prison for a combined total of 30 years.

[10] He continued to occupy both of these position under the succeeding cabinet of Giorgi Kvirikashvili until July 2017, when he resigned to run for the Mayor of Tbilisi as a Georgian Dream candidate in the October 2017 election,[11] which he won with 51.13%.

Kaladze started his career playing as a striker for his local club Lokomotiv Samtredia, where his father was president, until former Georgia international footballer David Kipiani requested Kakha to join Dinamo Tbilisi.

[citation needed][14] Kaladze claims that a good performance against Italy while playing for Georgia in a match that ended 0–0 brought him to the attention of Dynamo Kyiv; he later said, "In that game I was up against Christian Vieri and I marked him well.

[13] The Ukrainian club had been under the ownership of Hryhoriy Surkis and the late Valeriy Lobanovskyi had just been installed as manager; they would go on to win eight consecutive league titles.

As Dynamo won 2–1, it was Kaladze who scored the winner from a free kick with his left foot, which impressed the rossoneri management and put him onto the club's shortlist of potential signings for the team's defense.

[23][12] Upon his arrival, Kaladze became a regular starter almost immediately, and played mostly as a left-sided defensive midfielder in 4–4–2 or 4–2–1–3 formations, particularly under caretaker coach Cesare Maldini.

[24][14] On 11 May 2001, Kaladze played from start to the final whistle in the historic 6–0 Derby della Madonnina victory for Milan over Inter, in which he assisted the fifth goal of the game scored by Andriy Shevchenko; Kaladze and Shevchenko, once teammates and regulars in the Dynamo Kyiv starting XI, celebrated the goal together as personally significant and gave each other a hug.

[citation needed] However, on 17 June 2001, Kaladze opened the score in the eventual 2–1 away loss against Reggina yet refused to celebrate the goal as most of his thoughts were still with his brother, Levan, who had been kidnapped in Georgia just three weeks prior.

[28] After Kaladze's double success, the Georgian postal service issued a special stamp bearing the player's image.

[40] He later picked up the FIFA Club World Cup in December that year where Milan beat Boca Juniors 4–2 in the final, though Kaladze was one of two players to be sent off in that match.

[48] He was named as second-best defender of the 2010–11 Serie A by La Gazzetta dello Sport, being surpassed only by his former teammate, Milan's Thiago Silva.

Georgia had never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship since they split from the Soviet Union until their historic qualification for Euro 2024.

[59] He played fewer matches during the qualification for Euro 2008 and once again Georgia failed to qualify as they finished in sixth place despite starting their campaign with a 6–0 win over the Faroe Islands.

[71] Following the kidnapping, Kaladze threatened to take up Ukrainian citizenship,[20] but reverted his decision, stating, "There was a time when I thought about quitting the national side completely, but I couldn't do it out of respect for the Georgian people and the fans who come and give us such support.

[64] Through his Kala Foundation,[77] a charitable organisation established in 2008, Kaladze raised €50,000 to benefit South Ossetian refugees during the Russian invasion of Georgia.

[79] Kaladze owns Kala Capital, an investment company established in 2008 in Georgia with a focus on energy businesses,[80] and whose chief executive is former Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli.

[citation needed] His candidacy as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in October 2012 was therefore overshadowed by concerns about a serious risk that a conflict of interests might arise.

[93] Kala Capital sold the shares to GMC Group in November 2012 but concerns whether his indirect commercial interests had been abandoned remain.

[94] In July 2017, Kaladze resigned as Energy minister in order to run for Tbilisi mayor in the upcoming local elections.

On 5 December 2024, President Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili and his 18 associates, including Kaladze, amid a violent crackdown on participants of pro-EU protests.

[96] In response, Kaladze explained to media reporters the next day that "Zelenskyy does not belong to himself, the Ukrainian people and Ukraine as he serves another country".

[97] On 15 December 2024, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys announced sanctions against 17 Georgian Dream officials, Kaladze among them.

[100] On 14 November 2019, while sitting in a car he showed his middle finger to participants of a rally at the Georgian Dream HQ,[101] although in the same day he denied it being directed at protesters.