An approach for transforming a large dataset using user interface-based transformations applied to a sample of the dataset is disclosed. The sample of the large dataset has the same or similar format as the large dataset. A user can quickly apply transformations to the sample dataset using UI-based instructions. The UI-based instructions can be used to create a transformation job that can be configured to run on a backed database, such as a distributed database, to apply the transformations to the large dataset.