The present invention generally relates to computer databases and, more particularly, to data mining and knowledge discovery. The invention specifically relates to a method for constructing segmentation-based predictive models, such as decision-tree classifiers, wherein data records are partitioned into a plurality of segments and separate predictive models are constructed for each segment. The present invention contemplates a computerized method for automatically building segmentation-based predictive models that substantially improves upon the modeling capabilities of decision trees and related technologies, and that automatically produces models that are competitive with, if not better than, those produced by data analysts and applied statisticians using traditional, labor-intensive statistical techniques. The invention achieves these properties by performing segmentation and multivariate statistical modeling within each segment simultaneously. Segments are constructed so as to maximize the accuracies of the predictive models within each segment. Simultaneously, the multivariate statistical models within each segment are refined so as to maximize their respective predictive accuracies.