[8] Her thesis was titled as "Riigi poolt asutatud sihtasutuste juhtimissüsteemi täiustamine" or "The improvement of the management system of state-founded foundations" in English.

[12] She has spoken in support of strong civil society with less state interference, whilst placing high importance on helping those in need.

[1] She has often published opinion pieces in Estonian media, considering the position of Estonia in the European Union and on social and economical matters.

[2] As Kaljulaid's term as a member of the European Court of Auditors was due to end on 7 May 2016, she was confirmed as the next head of PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies in November 2015.

[16][17][18] On 19 September 2016, the freshly founded Development Monitoring Advisory Board at the chancellery of Estonian Parliament voted Kaljulaid to be its chair.

The main objection raised repeatedly during her candidacy by media as well as politicians and street polls was her being relatively unknown, compared to the candidates that had participated in the campaign.

[24][25][26] She confronted the objection in her public letter and during several interviews by promising to become visible across the country, visiting different areas and talking to the people directly.

[28] In 2020, the Estonian government nominated Kaljulaid as its candidate to succeed Angel Gurría in the position of Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for a five-year term.

[29] In January 2021, Kaljulaid announced that she had withdrawn her candidacy, citing consultations that led her to believe that accepting the position at the end of her first term as president amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia would "not be the best solution."

[30] On 21 January 2021, the opposition Social Democratic Party announced that they would support Kaljulaid should she run for a second term in the 2021 Estonian presidential election.

[32] By June 2021, it was stated that the government had "cooled" on the prospective of Kaljulaid serving a second term as president, finding her too polarizing.

In 2017, Kaljulaid became the first Estonian to be featured in the Forbes magazine's list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, placed at 78th,[48][49] and came twenty second among the most influential female political leaders.