Launching her career following the Rose Revolution of 2003, Dekanoidze first served as an official within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and as a diplomat, before being appointed as head of the Police Academy to oversee law enforcement recruitment reforms.

Following UNM's loss in the 2012 parliamentary elections, she joined the opposition, before moving to Ukraine in 2015, where she was appointed as Chief of the National Police under during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko.

I was not feeling comfortable, and I am sure that this is a moment for lots of young girls, how while they are playing basketball, soccer, tennis or wrestling at the arena, it might be their passion but they must concentrate on their security rather than sport.

Holding the position from 2004 to 2005, she oversaw some of the most well-known reforms of the agency, which culminated with the mass firing of thousands of police officers in an attempt to purge law enforcement from corruption.

This time also coincided with a rise in tensions between the central government and the secessionist authorities of South Ossetia, with the MIA playing a major role in the developments.

On 30 May 2012, Dekanoidze was appointed as Director of the National Examination Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, an office in charge of overseeing university entrance exams and teacher certifications.

[4] She had to face the protest resignation of 70 staff members upon her taking office, while ensuring the proper holding of the national exams set within weeks of her appointment.

[6] On 4 July, after just one month in charge of the NEC, she was appointed to lead the Ministry of Education and Science in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili, replacing Dimitri Shashkini.

However, her term ended in October when the United National Movement lost the parliamentary election and the new Georgian Dream government replaced her with philosopher Giorgi Margvelashvili.

After the Saakashvili-led UNM became an opposition party, Dekanoidze distanced herself from national politics, working briefly for the Center for European Policy Analysis and an adviser to the U.S. Department of Justice's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program.

[8] In 2015, she was granted the Ukrainian citizenship just as Saakashvili was appointed Governor of the Odesa Oblast, formally at the request of Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov, in whose cabinet she first served as an adviser.

She took over Ukrainian law enforcement at a time when it had small public approval, crime was sharply rising,[10] most police officers were without full equipment,[11] and corruption remained strongly entrenched.

[22] In July 2016, she declared having launched a war on crime and another one on corruption[23] and through a new vetting process, fired more than 5,600 law enforcement officers (or about 6% of the total police force).

[36] During the campaign, she accused the State Security Service (SSS) of placing her office under surveillance,[37] while alleging significant voter fraud on Election Day, including ballots disappearing from the 81st Precinct of Isani.

[38] In the first round of 31 October, she ran against several large names, like incumbent MP Davit Chichinadze (Tribuna party)[39] and ended up second with 27.2% of the vote, moving to a runoff against Georgian Dream's Kakha Kakhishvili.

[44] While in favor of ending public protests following the resignation of PM Giorgi Gakharia in favor of internationally mediated negotiations,[45] the follow-up controversial arrest of UNM leader Nika Melia under the orders of Gakharia's successor Irakli Gharibashvili made her lead the party's protest planning strategy, unveiling a schedule of demonstrations for weeks to come during a public speech on Rustaveli Avenue.

[46] Public statements at the time also reveal a clash between Dekanoidze and then-party chairman Grigol Vashadze when the latter called for an end to street protests and direct negotiations with the government.

[47] Following the launch of EU-mediated negotiations between Georgian Dream and the opposition in March 2021, she opposed the release of Nika Melia through bail or an amnesty mechanism, arguing that these would be a recognition of crimes that she called politically motivated.

[49] UNM refused to join other opposition parties in their signing of the "19 April Agreement", negotiated by EU Council President Charles Michel and which ended the political crisis that had plagued Georgia since the parliamentary elections.

[55] Following the violent 5 July anti-LGBTQ, far-right protests that injured dozens of journalists, she accused extremist organizations of working secretly with the authorities[56] and was one of seven female MPs to take over the Speaker's chair in a call for the government to resign.

In the midst of her campaign, she presented a shadow cabinet that would take office in case of her victory, with four vice-mayors representing different parts of the opposition: Ana Natsvlishvili (Lelo), Imeda Kldiashvili (G-FM), Revaz Chomakhidze and Temur Tsamtsishvili (independent), while pledging to allow civil society organizations to select the head of Kutaisi's Audit Service.

[62] She alleged several other violations, including the use of administrative resources, the forceful use of public employees in campaign activities,[63] and voter bribery by Deputy Infrastructure Minister Koba Gabunia.

Dekanoidze alleged pressure by the SSG on that individual and her family, while Imeda Kldiashvili was arrested for parking his car in front of the SSS building in Kutaisi in protest.

[74] On 31 January 2022, she announced an end of her faction's partial boycott and a plan to set-up a special parliamentary investigative commission to look into alleged inhuman treatment of Saakashvili in prison.

[75] The end of the boycott was a contentious issue within UNM and was decided after a vote of its Political Council, with Dekanoidze favoring returning to full parliamentary work.

[83] She remained pessimistic about former PM Giorgi Gakharia's creation of an opposition party as he served as Minister of Internal Affairs during the events of Gavrilov Night.

Already in early 2019, she criticized the Georgian government's silence on the autocephaly proclamation by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, declaring that "this issue concerns our struggle for freedom against a common enemy".

[95] On the day of Russia's invasion (24 February 2022), she was one of the co-sponsors of a proposal signed by President Zourabichvili to hold an emergency parliamentary session, although this was vetoed by Georgian Dream.