More women are working in Silicon Valley, showing the tech industry has made progress that is “good, but not sufficient,” Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, said Tuesday.

“We always had equal pay for equal work, but it’s more about equal opportunity for equal work,” Mr. Nadella said at a TimesTalks event hosted by The New York Times. “In tech, we do have a significant distance to cover.”

Mr. Nadella’s remarks — at a time when Silicon Valley is roiled by allegations of a pervasive culture of sexism at companies such as Google, Uber and SoFi — came from personal experience. Mr. Nadella, the third chief executive in Microsoft’s 42-year history, has had to deal with the backlash of a misstep on gender issues.

In 2014, shortly after taking over the chief executive position, he suggested at a conference that women should not push for pay raises and instead wait to be recognized for their work. He soon apologized. On Tuesday, he said that opinion had been “completely nonsensical” and reflected how little he actually understood the issue.