Kaltenborn was born in Dehradun, India. Her family emigrated to Vienna when she was a child, and she took Austrian citizenship. From 1990 to 1995 she studied for a Law degree at the University of Vienna, and then completed a master's degree in International Business Law at the London School of Economics in 1996. Whilst still a student in Vienna, she worked for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the UN Commission for International Trade Law, and on completion of her studies she worked for various legal firms: first in Stuttgart with Gleiss Lutz; then back in Vienna with Wolf & Theis; and finally for the Fritz Kaiser Group in 1998–1999. At this stage, Kaiser was a co-owner of the Sauber Formula One team, and Kaltenborn was employed to take charge of the team's corporate and legal affairs. By 2000, Kaiser had sold his shares but Kaltenborn remained with the team as the head of its legal department. From 2001, she has been a member of its management board, and in early 2010, following the team's return to independent status following the withdrawal of former partner BMW, she was appointed CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG. She is also involved in the FIA's Commission for Women and Motorsport, under Michèle Mouton. On 16 May 2012, Peter Sauber transferred a third of the Sauber team to Kaltenborn, making her a part owner. In October, he retired from front-line management of the team, handing her the role of team principal. On 22 June 2017 Sauber F1 Team confirmed Kaltenborn would be leaving the Sauber Group effective immediately through a statement on their website:
“Longbow Finance SA regrets to announce that, by mutual consent and due to diverging views of the future of the company, Monisha Kaltenborn will leave her positions with the Sauber Group effective immediately. We thank her for many years of strong leadership, great passion for the Sauber F1 Team and wish her the very best for the future. Her successor will be announced shortly; in the meantime we wish the team the best of luck in Azerbaijan.”
In February 2018, Kaltenborn made a return to motorsport with the founding of KDC Racing, which made its racing debut in the Italian and ADAC Formula 4 championships. KDC is a fifty-fifty venture between Kaltenborn - the 'K' of the team's name - and French-Monegasque businesswoman Emily di Comberti, whose son Aaron competed in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship in 2017. In her first job in Stuttgart, Monisha met Jens Kaltenborn and later married him in Dehradun. They have two children and live in Küsnacht, which is close to the Sauber factory in Hinwil, Switzerland.
